Florida  Alexander 

A  KENTUCKY  GIRL 


BY 

ELEANOR  TALBOT  KINKEAD 

AUTHOR  OF  "  'GAINST  WIND  AND  TIDE,"  "  YOUNG  GREEK 
OF  KENTUCKY,"   ETC. 


CHICAGO 

A.  C.  McCLURG  AND  COMPANY 
1898 


COPYRIGHT 

BY  A.  C.  McCLURG  &  CO. 
A.  D.,  1898 


"To  Elizabeth" 


9990^1 9 

AJ/C.<A^  \j\JJLf* 


Florida  Alexander 


i 

Upon  the  fragrant  April  morning  a 
voice  rang  out — the  voice  of  a  woman 
singing  in  French  a  tender,  pensive  little 
strain,  but  throwing  into  the  song  a 
fervor,  a  profound  sadness  of  interpreta 
tion  such  as  the  simple  words  and  music 
were  never  intended  to  evoke. 

And  such  a  voice !  A  warm  contralto, 
sonorous  as  the  tones  of  a  violoncello; 
a  voice  to  stir  the  blood  and  rouse  into 
instant  quickening  old  memories  that 
have  slept  so  long  one  almost  fancies  they 
will  never  wake ;  a  voice  to  tease,  and 
startle,  and  bewilder,  until  the  brain 
seems  all  a-whirl,  and  the  world  grows 
dim  and  distant  and  lost  in  a  mist  of 
tears.  But  though  it  had  been  artistic- 
7 


Florida  Alexander 

ally  trained,  it  possessed  only  drawing- 
room  capabilities,  after  all  is  said ;  and, 
in  a  way,  St.  John  had  often  heard  far 
better  singers,  even  among  amateurs,  and 
forgotten  their  very  names.  Yet  some 
thing  in  that  passionate  protest  caught  his 
ear,  just  as  the  ear  is  always  caught  at 
the  first  signs  of  genuine  emotion.  Is  it 
because  of  a  vague  but  ever-present  con 
sciousness  of  the  universal  heritage  of 
sorrow  that  the  heart  so  quickly  responds 
to  a  cry  of  pain?  He  paused  involun 
tarily  beside  the  iron  railing  and  looked 
intently  toward  the  stately,  white-pillared 
mansion  beyond. 

It  was  one  of  the  houses  he  was  accus 
tomed  to  pass  daily  on  the  way  to  his 
collegiate  duties.  Being  contemplative, 
he  was  inclined  to  make  the  most  of  his 
opportunities  to  observe  the  beautiful 
things  of  life,  and  he  needed  the  oppor 
tunity  only  to  perceive  what  a  great 
many  other  people  are  apt  to  overlook. 
To  go  down  that  street,  under  the 
maples,  implied  nothing  circuitous,  but 
8 


Florida  Alexander 

he  would  have  been  willing  to  take  a  con 
siderable  number  of  extra  steps,  on  the 
days  when  he  was  not  especially  pressed 
for  time,  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  gen 
erous  sense  of  latitude  afforded  by  the 
sight  of  the  picturesque  old  domicile,  and 
for  the  pleasure  of  passing  the  wide,  well- 
kept  lawn,  whereon  the  bluegrass  flour 
ished  in  such  luxuriant  growth.  For 
this  same  bluegrass,  as  well  as  the  deni 
zens  of  the  famous  region  of  its  perfec 
tion,  had  become  a  subject  of  interesting 
study  to  the  young  Bostonian  during  his 
eight  months'  sojourn  in  Kentucky;  and 
he  had  found  that  there  was  no  bluegrass, 
nor  any  person,  more  worthy  of  regard 
than  the  sward  his  eyes  now  rested  upon 
and  the  gentleman  to  whom  it  belonged. 
He  appeared  a  reserved,  polished 
young  man  of  studious  aspect  and  courte 
ous  but  formal  bearing.  Of  mere  phys 
ical  good  looks  he  possessed,  perhaps, 
rather  more  than  most ;  but  the  charm  of 
his  countenance  was  not  revealed  until  he 
smiled  or  spoke.  Then  his  face  took  on 
9 


Florida  Alexander 

a  certain  brilliancy  in  the  flash  of  white, 
even  teeth  against  the  swart  but  clear 
tone  of  his  complexion.  Slenderly  and 
athletically  built,  he  was  tall,  even  among 
Kentuckians;  and  there  was  an  agree 
able  contrast  between  his  very  black  hair 
and  deep  blue  eyes  fringed  with  thick 
lashes.  They  were  intensely  earnest 
eyes,  holding  a  rare  purity  in  their 
depths.  Perhaps  there  was  about  him 
a  hint  of  austerity  also.  Above  all, 
added  to  the  marks  of  a  more  than 
ordinarily  vigorous  mentality,  he  bore 
the  look  of  a  man  that  holds  always  a 
firm  grasp  upon  himself,  the  higher 
ideals  of  life  being  kept  constantly  in 
view. 

It  was  the  moral  significance  of  this 
selfmastery,  joined  with  a  superior  scholar 
ship,  that  so  strongly  recommended  him 
to  the  trustees  of  the  State  College 
at  Lexington,  who  had  offered  him  the 
chair  of  English  Literature.  Further 
more,  it  was  thought  that  he  would  con 
fer  additional  luster  upon  their  institution, 


Florida  Alexander 

seeing  that  he  had  already  attained  con 
siderable  reputation  as  an  author.  And 
the  professorship  had  been  accepted ;  for 
Mr.  Edward  Winthrop  St.  John  was  one 
of  that  number  who  have  found  the  writ 
ing  of  verse  to  be,  at  best,  only  a  staff, 
and  never  at  any  time  a  crutch  that  may 
be  relied  on.  However,  he  had  discov 
ered  that  life  in  this  locality  was  not 
without  interest,  especially  in  the  way  of 
affording  material  for  future  literary 
work. 

He  had  thoroughly  familiarized  him 
self  with  the  romantic  history  of  the 
State ;  had  thrilled  in  reading  the  stories 
of  the  hardy  pioneers,  and  longed  for  the 
Border  Minstrel's  pen  that  he  might  de 
scribe  their  fierce  warfare  while  they 
wrested  the  land  from  the  hostile  bands 
that  claimed  it  as  their  ''happy  hunting 
ground. ' '  Even  further  than  to  the  Scot 
tish  annals,  his  imagination  had  been 
drawn  backward  to  the  old  Homeric  leg 
ends,  to  the  heroes  of  ancient  Greece; 
and  in  the  Nibelungenlied,  in  Siegfried's 


Florida  Alexander 

adventures  with  bear  and  wolf  and  elk 
and  buffalo,  he  found  a  counterpart  of 
their  perils  with  the  savage  beasts  of  the 
dark,  untried  forests. 

With  quickening  pulse  he  had  followed 
them,  those  brave  men  and  braver  wom 
en,  as  they  fought  their  way  through 
the  wilderness,  encountering  every  hard 
ship  and  danger,  but  holding  always  to 
that  dearest  wish  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
heart,  the  founding  of  the  home.  Prov 
ing  them  loyal,  intrepid,  uncorrupted  to 
the  last,  he  had  traced  the  course  of  this 
people  through  the  long,  heart-wearying 
struggle  for  statehood  and  the  dazzling 
scheme  of  the  Spanish  Conspiracy,  the  rise 
of  the  political  parties  and  the  Old  and 
the  New  Court  controversy — on  and  on, 
he  had  followed  them,  down  to  the  time 
of  their  action  in  the  mournful  tragedy  of 
the  Civil  War,  and  in  it  all  he  had  found 
much  to  honor  and  but  little  to  condemn. 

Socially,  he  had  been  well  received, 
and  no  one  had  offered  a  more  cordial 
hospitality  than  Major  Ephraim  Alexan- 


Florida  Alexander 

der,  the  owner  of  this  delightful  old 
Southern  home.  But  the  acquaintance 
did  not  include  the  sorrowful  contralto, 
and  for  a  moment  it  did  not  occur  to  St. 
John  to  identify  her  as  a  daughter  of  the 
house  whose  return,  he  knew,  was  ex 
pected,  and  of  whom  it  would  have  been 
quite  impossible  not  to  hear  a  great  deal. 
As  for  that  young  woman,  he  had  con 
cluded  that  she  must  surely  be  the  pos 
sessor  of  a  most  brilliant  and  potent  per 
sonality  to  have  impressed  herself  upon 
her  townspeople  in  such  flattering  re 
membrance.  For  seldom  had  he  touched 
upon  the  rather  threadbare  theme,  the 
comeliness  of  Kentucky  women,  that 
some  one  did  not  instantly  exclaim,  "Ah, 
but  you  have  never  seen  Miss  Alexander 
— Florida  Alexander;  she  is  beautiful, 
really  beautiful."  And  it  had  become 
with  him  a  matter  of  interesting  consider 
ation  that  this  unstinted  praise  so  fre 
quently  proceeded  from  women  who, 
justifiably,  as  it  appeared,  might  have 
claimed  the  golden  apple  for  themselves. 
13 


Florida  Alexander 

Furthermore,  occasioned  no  doubt  by 
the  prospect  of  her  return,  both  her  out 
ward  and  her  inward  loveliness  had  been 
such  a  frequent  topic  of  conversation  in  a 
certain  circle  at  that  time,  small  wonder 
it  was  that  the  young  professor,  reason 
ing  logically  on  the  subject,  found  it  dif 
ficult  to  reconcile  those  heart-broken 
tones  with  a  being  whom  he  had  been 
forced  to  look  upon  as  altogether  blessed. 

However,  the  question  was  decided  at 
once.  A  peevish  voice,  raised  high  to 
drown  the  singing,  cried  impatiently  in 
the  hall,  "Florida,  Florida — for  pity's 
sake!"  There  was  a  break  in  the  music, 
and  then  the  song  came  abruptly  to  an 
end. 

A  moment  afterward,  a  young  woman 
in  a  green  serge  gown  and  small  round 
hat  appeared  in  the  doorway.  She  stood 
for  an  instant  slowly  drawing  on  her 
gloves,  and  looking  up  the  street  as  if  the 
glory  of  the  bursting  buds  and  blooms 
had  broken  newly  upon  her. 

It  was  a  long,  narrow  street,  with  deep, 
H 


Florida  Alexander 

grassy  lawns  and  houses  of  varied  archi 
tecture.  Maples  lined  the  sidewalk  on 
either  side,  and  these  reached  forth  their 
arms  to  each  other  and  formed  a  cool 
archway  of  rustling  green  through  which 
the  sunlight  pierced  in  only  occasional 
rays  like  the  fitful  gleam  of  a  spear. 
There  was  an  odor  of  locust  in  the  air, 
and  here  and  there,  toward  the  rear  of 
the  buildings,  the  ground  was  strewn  with 
a  pinkish,  feathery  fall,  when  the  light 
wind  stirred  the  fruit-trees.  The  girl 
seemed  to  yield  herself  to  the  earth's 
beauty  in  a  momentary  abandonment ; 
then  a  preoccupied  look  crept  into  her 
eyes.  She  came  slowly  down  the  long 
stone  pavement,  fumbling  nervously  with 
the  buttons  of  her  glove. 

She  was  a  tall  young  woman,  svelte, 
but  well-rounded  in  figure,  and  she 
walked  with  a  swaying,  graceful  carriage, 
a  certain  proud  freedom  of  step  that  gave 
an  air  of  distinction.  Beyond  this,  how 
ever,  St.  John  thought  that  there  was 
nothing  especially  notable  in  her  appear- 


Florida  Alexander 

ance,  in  view  of  all  that  had  been  told 
him.  He  could  see  that  her  face  was 
oval  in  contour,  that  she  had  light  brown 
hair,  and  dark  brown  eyes,  and  a  warm 
glow  in  her  cheeks  like  the  juice  of  a  rip 
ened  pomegranate,  her  coloring  being  of 
the  kind  that  generally  attracts ;  but  for 
his  taste  it  was  a  trifle  too  pronounced. 

Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  the  utter  un- 
conventionality  of  the  proceeding — and 
St.  John  was  by  no  means  one  prone  to 
disregard  the  conventionalities — he  re 
mained  standing  just  where  he  had  been 
arrested  shortly  before  by  that  strange 
witchery  in  her  voice.  Some  influence 
seemed  to  hold  him  now  against  his  will. 

But  it  was  not  until  she  had  come  quite 
near  that  he  was  able  to  give  a  name  to 
the  odd,  unpleasant  sensation  that  pos 
sessed  him,  and  realized  that  it  was  dis 
appointment — vague,  shadowy,  to  be 
traced  to  a  thin  cloud  of  melancholy,  per 
haps,  or  regret — of  something  that  life, 
thus  far,  had  never  given  to  him. 

Her  face  was  slightly  averted,  and  it 
16 


Florida  Alexander 

was  evident  that  she  did  not  see  him 
until  her  hand  had  touched  the  gate. 
Then,  as  in  a  swift  bending  she  leaned 
above  the  latch,  those  bewildering, 
mournful  brown  eyes,  of  which  already  he 
had  heard  so  much,  were  flashed  deeply 
into  his,  and  with  a  start,  a  pang  of  infi 
nite  sadness,  he  knew  why  it  was  that 
they  called  her  beautiful,  and  saw  that 
the  pathos  of  her  song  was  also  written 
in  her  face. 

With  a  certain  grave  dignity  his  hand 
involuntarily  reached  toward  his  hat,  and 
turning,  he  walked  quickly  down  the 
quiet,  shaded  street. 


II 

For  the  most  part,  the  founders  of  the 
commonwealth  of  Kentucky  were  Pres 
byterians. 

Of  those  vigorous  Scotch-Irish  settlers 
who,  more  than  a  century  ago,  removed 
from  the  Valley  of  Virginia  to  the  Ken 
tucky  solitudes,  none  were  more  honor 
able  than  the  Alexanders.  Shortly  after 
the  Revolution,  one  of  the  name  had 
penetrated  to  this  land  beyond  the  moun 
tains,  bringing  back  such  accounts  of  its 
primeval  beauty,  the  denseness  of  the 
magnificent  forests,  the  richness  of  the 
soil,  and  the  luxuriance  of  the  vegetation, 
that,  ere  long,  many  of  his  kinsmen  were 
eager  to  follow  him  into  this  new  Para 
dise,  where  their  desire  for  landed  pos 
session — relic  of  an  older  civilization — 
might  be  gratified  to  the  full.  Having 
18 


Florida  Alexander 

established  themselves  here,  they  inter 
married  with  other  prominent  Virginia 
families,  who  likewise  had  been  induced 
to  make  their  homes  in  this  favored  re 
gion. 

The  move  proved  an  advantageous  one 
to  the  Alexanders,  for  the  free  life  of  the 
wilderness  was  conducive  to  health,  and 
their  prosperity  steadily  increased.  But, 
through  all  the  years,  their  position 
seemed  to  rest  less  upon  a  certain  state- 
liness,  which  in  time  appeared  in  their 
surroundings,  than  upon  the  solid  dignity 
of  a  profound  religious  conviction,  the 
character  growing  out  of  an  unswerving 
allegiance  to  the  faith ;  so  that  to-day 
one  could  find  an  excellent  example  of 
the  courtly  graces  of  the  Cavalier  com 
bined  with  the  stern  principles  of  the 
Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian  in  Major 
Ephraim  Alexander,  the  oldest,  as  well 
as  the  ablest,  representative  of  this  ancient 
stock. 

At  sixty-nine  he  was  a  remarkably 
youthful- looking  man.  His  abundant 
19 


Florida  Alexander 

dark  hair,  streaked  with  silver,  fell  about 
a  brow  of  singular  vigor,  and  his  com 
manding  form  was  still  borne  soldierly 
erect.  Something  of  the  fire  of  other 
days  seemed  to  lurk  in  his  piercing  black 
eyes;  but  if  one  intuitively  dreaded  the 
power  of  his  glance  when  directed  against 
injustice  and  the  evil-worker,  this  sug 
gestion  of  severity  was  belied  by  an  ex 
pression  of  rare  sweetness  and  benevo 
lence  about  the  sensitive  mouth. 

A  graduate  of  old  Transylvania  Univer 
sity,  and  accustomed  from  his  youth  to  a 
familiarity  with  the  best  literary  thought, 
his  early  taste  for  the  classics  never 
left  him ;  and  such  was  his  acquaintance 
with  the  Greek  and  the  Latin  tongues 
that  woe  it  was  to  that  aspiring  young 
Kentucky  orator,  fresh  from  one  of  the 
colleges,  who  dared  misquote  in  his  pres 
ence — presuming  upon  a  supposed  inac 
curacy  of  knowledge  regarding  the  de 
funct  languages  on  the  part  of  his  audi 
tors. 

Conservative   in   his  judgments,  polit- 


Florida  Alexander 

ically  he  was  a  patriot  of  the  order  that 
knows  no  bias  for  selfish  interests.  He 
had  taken  an  active  part  in  the  stirring 
issues  of  the  Civil  War  period ;  and  it  is 
to  the  deliberation,  the  wise  counsel  of 
such  men  as  he,  prior  and  subsequent  to 
the  great  contest,  rather  than  to  their 
actual  service,  that  the  impartial  future 
historian  of  Kentucky  must  give  the 
greater  honor. 

But  that  dark  period  of  internecine 
strife  had  long  been  past.  And  if  cer 
tain  portions  of  his  existence  had  been 
tumultuous  and  wind-swept,  he  appeared 
now  to  have  entered  the  harbor  of  a  se 
rene  and  beautiful  old  age  delightful  to 
witness. 

It  seemed  to  Florida  that  he  was 
strangely  unaltered  in  appearance  by  the 
three  years.  So  painful  and  eventful  had 
been  most  of  that  time  to  her,  it  was 
difficult  to  realize  the  smooth  tranquillity 
of  his  even  days.  How  she  had  longed 
to  see  him  !  yet  always  with  that  touching 
solicitude  that  shrinks  so  pitifully  from 


Florida  Alexander 

the  marks  of  feebleness  and  decay  upon 
one  beloved.  But  when,  with  his  old- 
time  courtesy,  he  rose  to  greet  her  on  the 
evening  of  her  return,  something — some 
thing  in  the  gentle  tones  of  his  voice, 
perhaps — brought  back  a  piercing  re 
minder.  The  old  wound  in  her  heart, 
which  time  seemed  wholly  inadequate  to 
heal,  was  opened  anew.  Suddenly  the 
light  of  her  childhood  had  gathered  about 
her;  a  mist  had  sprung  into  her  eyes. 

And  again  they  were  living  quite  alone 
together  in  the  old  house — just  her  father 
and  herself — in  such  companionship  as 
she  knew  could  never  more  return.  She 
could  see  herself  as  she  appeared  in  those 
days — a  slender,  earnest  little  creature, 
with  wide,  wistful  brown  eyes,  and  long, 
unruly  hair  falling  about  her  face — now 
flitting  restlessly  from  room  to  room, 
now  sitting  demure  and  important  oppo 
site  her  father  at  table,  or  climbing  up  on 
the  rounds  of  his  chair  to  receive  the 
good-night  kiss.  And  those  had  been 
such  pleasant  days,  hallowed  as  they  were 


Florida  Alexander 

by  shadowy  recollections  of  the  beautiful 
mother  who  had  faded  so  strangely  out 
of  her  life,  and  of  the  little  dead  brothers 
and  sisters  whose  voices  she  often  seemed 
to  hear  calling  to  her  at  her  play,  or  when 
alone  in  the  quiet  nursery.  Then  that 
crushing,  agonizing  moment  when  it  first 
broke  upon  her  childish  consciousness 
that  everything  was  to  be  changed! 
There  was  to  be  a  new  mother,  whom 
she  was  told  that  she  must  love.  On  the 
night  after  this  announcement  they 
searched  for  her  long  and  in  vain.  And 
when  in  the  murky  morning  light  she  re 
turned,  the  dank  cemetery  leaves  cling 
ing  to  her  garments,  there  was  that  writ 
ten  in  her  countenance  which  never  left  it 
in  all  the  years  to  come.  She  remem 
bered  that  they  had  said  then:  "She  is 
so  young — a  mere  child ;  she  will  surely 
get  over  it."  But  she  alone  knew  that 
she  never  would  get  over  it. 

And    so    it    had   come   about  that  her 
home-coming  was   always   more    or    less 
painful,   and  this  last  home-coming  was 
23 


Florida  Alexander 

especially  painful  because  of  many 
things.  She  had  lived  on  a  kind  of 
breathless  tension  for  much  of  the  past 
three  years ;  and  she  had  deeply  suffered — 
as  every  one  must  suffer  whose  existence 
has  been  in  any  degree  a  yielding  to  an 
impulse  of  nature  in  indifference  to  the 
law  of  conscience.  Life  had  seemed  all 
at  once  to  break  upon  her  with  such 
overwhelming  force.  The  current  had 
been  so  swift  and  strong,  at  first  she  had 
been  exhilarated ;  then  bewildered  and 
baffled  and  terrified  with  dread. 

On  the  morning  after  her  return, 
Florida  sat  long  in  one  of  the  deep  chairs 
in  her  pretty  bedchamber.  In  some  of 
the  rooms  her  stepmother  had  seen  fit  to 
make  certain  alterations;  but  this  little 
nook  had  been  left  unchanged.  Every 
thing  was  startlingly  familiar;  the  same 
small  white  bed  with  its  muslin  hangings, 
the  same  pictures  in  their  old  places,  the 
same  airy  furniture,  and  cool  chintz,  and 
wild  roses  on  the  walls.  Once  it  had 
been  her  mother's  room ;  and  though 
24 


Florida  Alexander 

Florida  could  recall  only  a  few  incidents 
to  mark  the  association,  in  some  dim, 
devotional  way  she  had  always  felt  that 
here  a  kindly  spirit  hovered  near — the 
spirit  of  the  long-dead  mother  of  whom 
the  girl  thought  so  often  and  so  tenderly, 
and  of  whom  in  reality  she  knew  so  lit 
tle.  But  it  had  been  told  her  that  her 
mother — the  home  of  whose  people  had 
been  in  the  far  South,  the  family  having 
removed  to  Kentucky  at  a  much  later 
period  than  the  Alexanders — was  of 
French  descent.  Florida  herself  seldom 
spoke  the  name.  There  was  an  exquisite 
ivory  miniature,  set  in  pearls.  She  rose 
and  took  it  from  its  case,  and  looked  for 
some  time  upon  the  lovely  features.  It 
was  a  willful  little  face,  gay  and  debonair, 
yet  womanly  and  sweet  withal. 

As  she  returned  it  to  its  enclosure  and 
placed  it  for  safe-keeping  in  a  secret 
drawer  in  her  desk,  her  eye  was  caught 
by  a  book  hid  carefully  away  in  the  far 
thest  corner.  She  reached  forth  a  hand 
to  it,  and  as  her  glance  fell  upon  the 
25 


Florida  Alexander 

cover  an  amused  expression  crept  into 
her  eyes.  Her  journal!  What  girlish 
rhapsodies  and  high-flown  moralizations 
would  she  find  here?  With  a  flickering 
smile  playing  about  her  lips,  she  carelessly 
turned  the  leaves.  The  last  entry  had 
been  made  nearly  five  years  before.  In 
a  clear,  strong  hand  she  had  written: 

"A  dull  day.  Leaden  skies  overhead, 
a  sense  of  depression  within.  Why — why 
am  I  always  so  sad  ?  But  I  scarcely  know 
what  I  want.  I  wonder  if  the  desires  of 
other  people  are  any  more  definite.  Or 
is  this  restlessness  common  to  all  human 
ity?  If  only  I  could  shake  off  the  feeling 
of  restraint,  of  incompleteness,  the  con 
sciousness  that  only  one  half  of  me  is  liv 
ing,  while  the  other  half  is  being  slowly 
starved. 

"But,  oh!  the  great  sorrowful,  suffer 
ing  world  !  And  how  despicable  to  think 
only  of  one's  own  happiness — or  the  want 
of  it,  which  is  putting  it  far  more  cor 
rectly  in  my  case. 

"On  Wednesday  one  of  my  friends  is 
26 


Florida  Alexander 

to  be  married — actually  one  of  my  friends. 
I  passed  her  house  this  afternoon ;  she 
was  standing  at  the  window,  and  she 
beckoned  to  me  to  come  in.  She  showed 
me  her  wedding-gown,  a  most  royal  affair 
of  gleaming  satin  and  rare  old  lace.  I 
could  not  speak;  yet  Marie  chatted 
volubly,  and  was  all  the  time  quite  cool 
and  unconcerned. 

"I  wonder  if  I  shall  ever  be  married? 
I  think  I  should  rather  not.  But  how 
strange  to  go  to  one's  grave  and  never  to 
have  known  what  to  some  has  meant  so 
much." 

And  beneath  this  she  had  scribbled  in 
pencil,  as  if  half  in  derision,  some  lines 
from  "Maud,"  which  were  evidently  an 
afterthought : 

"Let  the  sweet  heavens  endure, 
Not  close  and  darken  above  me 

Before  I  am  quite,  quite  sure 
That  there  is  one  to  love  me; 

Then  let  come  what  come  may 
To  a  life  that  has  been  so  sad, 

I  shall  have  had  my  day." 


27 


Florida  Alexander 

The  book  fell  from  her  grasp;  she  had 
grown  very  pale.  The  folds  of  her  deli 
cate  pink  morning  gown  trembled  as  they 
fell  about  her;  she  was  quivering  in  every 
nerve.  Her  dark  eyes  grew  thrillingly 
intense,  tragically  beautiful.  She  stood 
a  moment,  wrapped  in  deepest  medita 
tion,  her  hands  clasped  behind  her  head. 
Then,  as  if  shaking  off  by  a  mighty  effort 
the  thoughts  that  had  come  surging  in 
upon  her,  she  turned,  walked  quickly 
from  the  room  and  down  the  long  stair, 
and  paused  beside  the  library  door.  A 
low,  musical  voice  responded  to  her  knock. 

She  found  her  father  alone  among  his 
books. 


28 


Ill 

Florida  stood  a  moment,  irresolute,  on 
the  threshold. 

The  Major  was  seated  in  a  carved, 
high-backed  chair  near  the  fire,  his  Homer 
open  before  him  and  a  volume  of  Sir 
Walter  on  the  table  close  at  hand.  There 
was  a  look  of  keen  enjoyment  upon  his 
fine  patrician  features,  as  in  martial  pomp 
the  old  Grecian  and  Trojan  warriors 
stalked  before  his  fancy.  His  rare  phys 
ical  beauty  seemed  heightened  by  the  effect 
of  the  room's  quaint  picturesqueness. 

It  was  a  charming  room  to  read  in,  or 
to  dream  in,  as  one  might  feel  inclined; 
and  it  was  especially  inviting  this  moist 
April  morning,  for  a  light  rain  was  begin 
ning  to  fall,  and  the  cheerful  wood  fire  on 
the  hearth  gave  a  sense  of  warmth  and 
comfort  not  elsewhere  to  be  found.  The 
29 


Florida  Alexander 

polished  andirons  winked  in  the  ruddy 
glow.  An  aged  setter  dozed  upon  the 
rug.  The  firelight  gleamed  upon  massive 
book-cases  filled  with  the  works  of  de 
lightful  authors,  and  upon  old  silver 
candelabra  and  rich  brocade  hangings. 
Scattered  through  the  room  were  many 
interesting  relics  suggestive  of  earlier  days ; 
and  on  the  wall  there  were  a  number  of 
dim  family  portraits — portraits,  most  of 
them,  of  distinguished  officers  in  the  Rev 
olutionary  and  the  Colonial  wars — whose 
eyes  seemed  to  follow  the  occupant  with 
such  stern,  persistent  accusation  that  one 
felt  half-disposed  to  fall  on  his  knees  be 
fore  them  and  make  a  clean  breast  of  all 
his  sins  and  shortcomings,  vowing  there 
and  then  to  renounce  these  one  and  all 
forever,  if  only  their  countenances  would 
in  some  small  degree  relax.  It  is  not 
recorded  that  they  ever  did  relax,  perhaps 
for  the  reason  that  no  one  ever  actually 
made  the  confession.  It  may  be  doubted 
that  one  ever,  even  though  willing,  tells 
everything.  However,  something  at 
30 


Florida  Alexander 

least  approaching  a  confession  rose,  like 
an  offering  of  incense,  before  them  on 
this  particular  morning.  Florida  was  in 
a  strange  mood. 

"Do  I  disturb  you,  papa?"  she  asked 
timidly,  drawing  back,  her  whole  attitude, 
nevertheless,  expressing  an  appeal. 

Her  father  looked  up  quickly  from  his 
book,  and  the  warmth  of  an  especial  wel 
come  overspread  his  face. 

"Is  it  you,  my  dear?  Come  right  in 
— come  right  in!"  he  cried  heartily. 
"No,  no, "  seeing  that  she  still  hesitated, 
"you  do  not  disturb  me."  He  carefully 
placed  a  mark  in  the  place  where  he  had 
been  reading,  and  pushing  back  his  spec 
tacles  rose  with  old-time  courtliness. 

Florida  sat  down  in  a  low  chair  at  his 
side.  Her  head  sank  back  a  little  lan 
guidly  against  the  silken  cushion.  The 
firelight  deepened  the  color  of  her  gown 
to  a  rosier  tint.  "How  nice  and  warm 
you  are  here,  papa.  And  the  dear  old 
room!"  she  exclaimed  softly. 

Her  eyes  swept  the  apartment  with  a 


Florida  Alexander 

slow,  caressing  gaze.  Presently  she 
leaned  toward  the  book  he  had  just  laid 
aside.  "May  I  see  where  you  were?" 
she  asked,  brightening  at  the  sight  of  the 
familiar  Greek  text.  Her  glance  ran 
swiftly  over  the  page,  her  face  express 
ing  something  of  the  same  eager  interest 
one  feels  in  confronting  the  features  of  a 
friend  after  a  long  separation.  "Ah, 
the  parting  of  Hector  and  Andromache. 
How  beautiful  it  is — always  beautiful!" 

The  Major's  face  glowed  with  a  kindred 
enthusiasm.  "Do  you  recall  Pope's  lines 
in  the  translation,  my  dear?  Let  me  see — 
how  do  they  run? 

'Andromache,  my  soul's  far  better  part, 
Why  with  untimely  sorrows  heaves  thy  heart? 
No  hostile  hand  can  antedate  my  doom 
Till  fate  condemns  me  to  the  silent  tomb."' 

And  in  his  gentle,  beautifully  modu 
lated  voice  he  recited  the  stanza,  just  as 
Florida  had  heard  him  recite  it,  preceded 
by  precisely  the  same  inquiry  and  with 
the  same  perfect  intonation,  from  the 
days  of  her  earliest  recollection. 
32 


Florida  Alexander 

"What  a  fatalist  of  the  fatalists  he  was, 
papa — Hector,  son  of  Priam !  But  his 
must  have  been  rather  a  comfortable  doc 
trine,  on  the  whole,  if  calculated  to  make 
one  a  trifle  incautious. 

'  No  hostile  hand  can  antedate  my  doom 
Till  fate  condemns  me  to  the  silent  tomb.'" 

She  repeated  the  lines  thoughtfully,  as 
if  weighing  their  secret  meaning. 

The  light  of  a  secure  and  holy  faith 
shone  in  her  father's  face;  again  he  was 
ready  with  a  quotation : 

"  'Dimly  of  old  in  such  scenes  and  suf 
ferings  men  saw  fate;  now  they  see 
God,'  '  he  responded  fervently. 

Florida's  eyes  wandered  away  to  the 
curling  lilac  flames  on  the  hearth.  She 
leaned  forward  on  her  elbow,  growing 
grave  and  pensive. 

"It  would  be  beautiful  to  be  able  still 
to  see  God,  even  in  all  the  sufferings  of 
the  world,"  she  said,  at  length,  dispirit 
edly,  "if  we  only  could,  if  we  only 
could."  A  huskiness  had  crept  into 

33 


Florida  Alexander 

her  voice,  and  her  erect  figure  seemed 
suddenly  bowed.  "But  it  has  always  ap 
peared  to  me  that  most  of  the  suffering 
we  have  to  bear  only  comes  through  our 
own  wrong-doing;  we  are  simply  reaping 
the  whirlwind,"  she  added  quickly. 

A  tremor  swept  her  frame.  She  threw 
an  uneasy  glance  over  her  shoulder,  as  if 
shrinking  from  some  haunting  presence. 
She  was  silent.  She  sat  nervously  twist 
ing  her  long,  white,  ringless  fingers  in  an 
absent  fashion.  When  she  next  spoke 
her  manner  was  slightly  abrupt  and  con 
strained. 

"I  came  to  tell  you  a  little  of  myself 
this  morning,  papa — something  of  the 
past  three  years.  Letters  give  so  little. 
I  so  much  feel  the  need  of  guidance." 

Her  father's  face  wore  an  expression  of 
amiable  attention,  as  if  he  were  about  to 
listen  to  the  prattle  of  a  child. 

"There  isn't  very  much — to  speak  of," 

she  supplemented  with  a  slight  emphasis, 

which,   however,  his  ear  did  not  detect. 

"In  the  first  place,  I  think  an  explanation 

34 


Florida  Alexander 

of  everything  as  regards  myself  may  be 
found  in  the  continual  warring  of  certain 
inherent  elements  of  my  own  nature — in 
other  words,  in  the  principle  of  heredity. 

The  Major's  somewhat  reluctant  en 
trance  into  the  shadowy  depths  of  these 
most  uncertain  waters  passed  unnoticed, 
and  she  hurried  on. 

"To  a  temperament  particularly  fervid 
and  self-indulgent,  there  was  added  an  al 
truistic  sense — a  sense  of  awful  human  re 
sponsibility.  ' '  As  clearly  and  as  indifferent 
ly  as  one  might  reveal  the  characteristics 
of  another  she  presented  her  analysis. 
"Then  at  college  I  came  under  certain 
influences,  especially  the  influence  of  a 
sister  of  one  of  my  friends.  This  girl — 
woman,  rather  (she  was  years  older  than 
any  of  us) — was  often  at  our  rooms.  She 
was  a  remarkable  person,  one  of  the 
plainest  and,  at  the  same  time,  most 
beautiful  people  I  ever  saw.  Her  whole 
soul  seemed  absorbed  in  the  college  set 
tlement  idea,  the  work  of  the  city  mis 
sionary,  and  in  other  great  charitable 
35 


Florida  Alexander 

plans  that  have  for  their  object  the  relief 
and  enlightenment  of  the  poorer  classes. 
Through  my  acquaintance  with  her  the 
longing  I  have  always  had  to  be  one  of 
the  practical  workers  of  the  world  in 
creased.  There  are  so  many  sorrowful, 
needy  ones,  my  heart  so  often  ached  at 
the  thought  of  them.  And  at  times  I 
felt  irresistibly  drawn  to  go  forth  and  give 
my  efforts,  whatever  money  I  should 
have,  my  entire  life,  to  the  cause  of 
mercy.  But  these  moods  of  exaltation, 
of  self-surrender,  were  always  followed 
by  the  dullness  of  reaction."  She  broke 
off  suddenly  with  a  hopeless  gesture  of 
utter  weariness.  "If  I  truly  wanted  to 
live  for  others,"  she  continued  sadly, 
after  a  moment,  "I  just  as  truly  wanted 
something  of  life  for  myself.  I  was 
strong,  I  was  young — still  on  the  very 
threshold  of  existence — I  could  not  help 
feeling  that  somewhere — somewhere  in  the 
great  sad  world  individual  happiness  was 
yet  to  be  found ;  and  I  was  not  quite 
able  to  put  all  chance  of  reaching  it  for- 
36 


Florida  Alexander 

ever  out  of  my  grasp.  Finally  there 
came  a  moment  when  a  decision  must  be 
made.  Aunt  Augusta's  invitation  to 
come  to  her  in  Baltimore  after  my  gradu 
ation  and  Ethel  Strong's  letter  from  New 
York  asking  me  to  unite  with  her  in  her 
work  came  to  me  by  the  same  mail.  For 
weeks  I  could  not  sleep.  At  length  I 
made  my  choice ;  and  I  chose  in  favor  of 
self,  of  the  world."  Her  voice  died  away 
in  a  sob. 

"You  were  far  too  young  for  the  work, 
whatever  it  was,  my  dear,"  the  Major  in 
terposed,  somewhat  mystified  and  not  a 
little  impatient.  "It  was  altogether 
proper  that  you  should  go  to  your  aunt." 

The  girl  lifted  her  eyes  filled  with  an 
inexpressible  pathos  to  his. 

"Papa,  can  you  not  see  that  it  was  a 
choice  for  eternity?"  she  cried  bitterly. 
"The  highest  was  presented  to  me,  and  I 
— I  could  not  take  it.  It  will  never  be 
offered  again.  But  I  suffered  so — I  suf 
fered  so  in  trying  to  find  happiness." 

There  could  be  no  denial  of  the  ring  of 
37 


Florida  Alexander 

despairing  pain  in  the  low,  vibrant  voice, 
quivering  with  emotion. 

In  the  surprise  of  a  sudden  revelation 
her  words  broke  upon  her  father's  ears, 
startling  him  to  a  recognition  of  some 
thing  which  now  for  the  first  time  had 
begun  to  dawn  upon  him :  the  fact  of 
her  broadened  womanhood,  her  intense 
capacity  to  feel.  A  sense  of  inadequacy 
took  possession  of  him,  and  he  was  con 
scious  of  a  most  distressing  uncertainty  as 
to  the  best  method  to  be  employed  in 
dealing  with  her.  In  helpless  confusion 
his  mind  ran  back  to  the  women  of  her 
race,  especially  to  those  nearest  him,  of 
his  own  blood.  They  had  all  been  gen 
tlewomen  in  a  high  meaning  of  the  word. 
But  these  had  been  content  to  find  their 
duties  in  the  home,  dispensing  whatever 
charities  they  felt  inclined  to  at  no  far 
ther  distance  from  the  domestic  circle 
than  the  rear  of  their  own  habitations, 
thus  manifesting  a  modesty  which  to 
him  appeared  not  only  becoming  but  en 
tirely  indispensable.  This  latter-day 
38 


Florida  Alexander 

young  woman,  with  her  restless  eagerness 
to  take  upon  herself  the  solution  of  prob 
lems  with  which  older  and  far  wiser  heads 
have  been  unable  successfully  to  cope, 
very  ill  accorded  with  his  unalterable 
standards.  He  was  disturbed  as  well  as 
mortified  that,  even  in  what  he  considered 
the  mere  freak  of  a  moment,  a  child  of 
his  should  have  adopted  any  of  the  ad 
vanced  ideas  regarding  the  position  of 
women,  views  which  to  him  were  most 
improper  and  distasteful,  especially  in  one 
so  young. 

"What  did  your  Aunt  Augusta  have 
to  say  to  you  on  these  subjects?"  he 
asked  anxiously,  studying  the  girl's  face 
above  his  gold-rimmed  spectacles. 

"I  never  discussed  them  with  Aunt 
Augusta.  After  I  went  to  her,  I  was  in 
volved  in  a  perpetual  whirl  of  gayety  and 
travel,  and  all  the  shams  and  mockeries 
of  the  society  she  leads  in.  Besides,  I 
had  made  my  choice;  I  was  no  longer 
worthy  of  a  place  among  those  earnest, 
true-hearted  women  who  were  laboring  to 
39 


Florida  Alexander 

lighten  the  burdens  of  others,  and  I  felt 
I  ought  not  even  to  take  their  names 
upon  my  lips." 

''Fanciful,  wholly  fanciful,  my  dear." 

She  drew  a  little  nearer  to  him,  half- 
crouching  at  his  side. 

"I  have  been  playing  with  coals  of  fire, 
papa, — what  wonder  is  it  that  I  got 
burned?"  She  quickly  put  up  both  of 
her  hands  to  her  eyes,  as  if  to  still  their 
dull  ache.  "But  oh,  there  is  always  so 
much  needless  pain — and  the  blunders, 
the  hopeless,  irretrievable  blunders!" 
Then  in  a  perfect  passion  of  self-pity,  she 
broke  forth,  as  she  lifted  her  head:  "I 
was  so  young — I  had  no  mother!" 

Involuntarily  and  unconsciously  the 
words  from  Browning's  great  tragedy  had 
come  to  her  lips — words  of  which  Dickens 
once  wrote,  "I  know  nothing  that  is  so 
affecting,  nothing  in  any  book  I  have 
ever  read." 

There  were  hot  tears  on  her  cheeks ; 
she  turned  away  her  face. 

The  Major  rose,  and  began  to  move 
4o 


Florida  Alexander 

slowly  up  and  down  the  room,  his  hands 
clasped  behind  him,  his  brows  knit  in  dis 
quieting  thoughts. 

But  when  he  finally  resumed  his  seat 
his  countenance  had  cleared.  A  remedy 
was  beginning  to  unfold  itself.  Un 
doubtedly,  in  his  opinion,  the  cause  of 
the  girl's  morbid  and  untranquil  state  of 
mind  was  to  be  traced  to  the  effect  of  the 
light,  unsound  literaturefloodingthecoun- 
try  on  every  hand.  Much  that  the  critics 
of  the  day  held  in  high  estimate  he 
regarded  as  sensational  if  not  positively 
pernicious  in  its  tendency.  He  was 
grieved  to  discover  that  he  had  allowed 
her  to  be  away  from  his  influence  long 
enough,  possibly,  for  her  youthful  tastes 
to  be  somewhat  contaminated.  But,  for 
tunately,  it  was  not  too  late  to  mend 
this  error.  He  laid  his  hand  with  a  mild 
firmness  upon  her  shoulder. 

"From  now  on  you  must  begin  and 
read  good  books,"  he  said,  his  custom 
ary  benign  repose  having  wholly  returned. 
"Imbue  your  thoughts  with  the  lofty 
41 


Florida  Alexander 

conceptions  of  those  grand  old  authors 
that  immortalized  themselves  in  the  past. 
Most  of  this  modern  writing  is  mere 
worthless  stuff,  unfit  for  you  to  read. 
The  right  plan  is  to  begin  the  day  with 
an  hour  or  two  devoted  to  Scriptural 
reading.  As  Dr.  Watts  expressed  it — 

'The  testimonies  of  thy  grace 

I  set  before  mine  eyes, 
There  I  derive  my  daily  strength, 
And  there  my  comfort  lies.' 

"You  might  review  your  Greek  and 
Latin,"  he  continued,  "reciting  to  me, 
including  also  a  series  of  metaphysical 
studies  which  I  will  map  out  for  you. 
Then,  for  lighter  reading,  take  up  Macau- 
lay's  essays,  and  Addison,  allowing  your 
self  occasional  glimpses,  at  my  direction, 
into  the  'Noctes  Ambrosianae.'  These, 
with  Shakespeare,  Milton,  Southey, 
Pope,  Coleridge,  Goldsmith,  Burns  and 
Wordsworth,  together  with  the  novels 
of  Sir  Walter  Scott  and  Miss  Edgeworth, 
will  bring  about  a  total  change  of  ideas, 
developing  in  you,  furthermore,  certain 
42 


Florida  Alexander 

delightful  conversational  powers  which 
you  should  strive  to  cultivate,  and  which 
the  young  women  of  the  present  genera 
tion  appear  to  me  sadly  to  lack." 

At  this  rather  alarming  distribution  of 
her  time  and  labors,  Florida  experienced 
one  of  those -swift  changes  of  mood  the 
capacity  for  which  constituted  her 
subtlest  charm.  A  gleam  of  merriment 
shot  from  under  her  downcast  lids. 

"I  have  read  them  all,  papa,  again  and 
again — the  very  last  one  of  them;  but, 
at  your  suggestion,  I  will  begin  with 
them  again,  and  see  what  they  can  do  in 
the  way  of  restoring  a  perverted  mind  to 
a  more  healthful  condition." 

She  sprang  lightly  to  her  feet,  a  half- 
serious,  half-comic  expression  flitting 
across  her  features.  She  stood  a  moment 
resting  her  arms,  with  their  ruffles  of  filmy 
lace,  upon  the  carved  back  of  his  antique 
chair.  "Do  you  remember  your  old  term 
to  describe  me?"  she  asked,  bending 
caressingly  above  him.  "  'Fantastic'  it 
was,  wasn't  it,  papa?  I  used  to  think  it 
43 


Florida  Alexander 

rather  applicable.  I  could  even  see  the 
appropriateness  myself.  And  the  'hair- 
brained,  sentimental  trace,'  do  you  still 
find  that,  too,  papa?  I  had  thought  I 
must  have  lost  it  in  the  weariness  of  the 
years." 

Her  father's  indulgent  -smile  was  a 
relief,  after  the  high  tension. 

"You  have  not  lost  it  yet,"  answered 
the  Major,  slowly  shaking  his  head.  ' '  Be 
assured,  you  have  not  lost  it  yet." 


44 


IV 

Among  the  Arabs  there  is  an  old  prov 
erb  which  tersely  mentions  three  things 
that  never  come  back :  the  word  that  has 
been  spoken,  the  arrow  that  has  been  sent, 
and  the  opportunity  that  has  been  lost. 
Shortly  after  he  came  to  Kentucky,  St. 
John  experienced  a  melancholy  realiza 
tion  of  the  truth  of  the  last  clause  of  this 
apothegm  on  the  occasion  when  he  first 
met  Mrs.  Alexander. 

From  what  he  had  heard  concerning 
her,  he  half-expected,  as  he  was  ushered 
into  her  presence,  to  find  her  reclining  in 
white  on  a  silken  divan,  arrayed  in  a  blue 
gauze  scarf,  and  reading  aloud  from  one 
of  her  manuscripts  to  an  admiring  coterie, 
after  the  fashion  of  Delphine  Gay.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  however,  he  discovered 
little  in  the  appearance  of  the  majestic, 
45 


Florida  Alexander 

dark-haired  matron  of  fifty,  whose  glances 
coldly  swept  his  face,  suggestive  of  the 
portraitures  that  have  come  down  to  us  of 
the  ethereal  goddess  of  the  salon,  who 
was  wont  to  assume  unto  herself  the  im 
perious  designation  of  "Muse  of  the  Na 
tion."  For  whatever  marks  of  mental 
similarity  might  possibly  exist,  it  was 
evident  that  physically  Mrs.  Alexander's 
distinction  rested  upon  claims  of  a  far 
more  munificent  if  less  airy  description. 
Although  there  still  remained  traces  of 
that  rare  perfection  of  feature  which,  a 
quarter  of  a  century  before,  had  caused 
her  to  stand  out  preeminent  in  a  re 
nowned  galaxy  of  Louisville  beauties,  at 
most  these  traces  were  now  only  the 
vaguest  hints  that  threatened  soon  to  be 
entirely  lost  in  a  robustness  fatal  to 
classic  proportion.  In  the  meanwhile, 
she  was,  nevertheless,  a  notably  hand 
some  woman;  and  St.  John  saw  at  once 
that  she  was  something  more  than  a 
handsome  woman — in  short,  a  personage 
by  no  means  to  be  overlooked.  Further- 
46 


Florida  Alexander 

more,  he  recognized  that  it  was  due 
entirely  to  his  own  denseness  in  this  mem 
orable  experience  that  he  failed  to  grasp 
the  fortune  of  her  favor. 

The  occasion  was  that  of  one  of  her 
brilliant  evening  receptions,  and  the  god 
dess,  gorgeously  attired,  and  rather  daz 
zling  in  her  splendor,  had  swept  down 
upon  him  with  especial  effect. 

With  a  magisterial  assumption  that 
was  wholly  sincere,  during  the  course  of 
the  next  fifteen  minutes  she  plunged  with 
such  bold  assault  into  literary  topics  that, 
in  spite  of  the  compliment  implied,  St. 
John,  who  was  apt  to  be  a  little  con 
strained  on  meeting  with  strangers,  was 
completely  routed  and  silenced.  Begin 
ning  with  the  early  Victorian  poets,  she 
proceeded  rapidly,  finally  drifting  into  a 
tedious  dissertation  on  the  subject  of  the 
Pre-Raphaelites,  and  concluding,  either 
through  want  of  breath  or  further  knowl 
edge  in  this  direction,  with  a  brief  survey 
of  William  Morris  and  an  enigmatical 
reference  to  the  "Earthly  Paradise." 
47 


Florida  Alexander 

St.  John's  worst  enemy,  if  he  had 
one,  would  have  been  unable,  with  any 
show  of  truthfulness,  to  attribute  to  him 
the  fault  of  holding  himself  in  too  high 
estimate;  but  in  the  course  of  this  re 
markable  monologue,  he  was  conscious  of 
an  uncomfortable  sensation  of  growing 
steadily  less,  and  that  with  such  alarming 
rapidity  it  was  to  be  doubted  that  he 
could  ever,  except  with  the  aid  of  a 
microscope,  succeed  in  finding  himself 
again. 

That  he  was,  indeed,  far  from  acquit 
ting  him  with  the  brilliancy  that  would 
have  redounded  to  his  credit  was  coldly 
manifest  in  the  expression  of  his  recon 
dite  hostess.  After  a  pause,  in  which 
abundant  time  was  given  him  to  soar  to 
the  heights  she  had  just  been  scaling,  she 
turned  disgustedly  away,  never  again 
deigning  to  bestow  her  erudition  upon 
him.  However,  in  spite  of  this  lament 
able  failure  on  his  part,  she  continued  to 
honor  him  with  her  invitations,  and  the 
young  man  was  thus  given  an  opportun- 
48 


Florida  Alexander 

ity,  though  from  afar,  for  the  study  of  a 
type  which  he  found  peculiarly  suggestive. 

He  noted  that  she  posed  a  good  deal, 
and  that  she  had  rather  a  sagacious  eye 
for  effects.  One  picture  stood  out  with  a 
kind  of  ironic  boldness;  and  he  seldom 
thought  of  her  that  she  did  not  in  the 
same  instant  appear  before  his  mental 
vision  royally  seated  in  her  salon,  wearing 
a  yellow  satin  gown,  and  with  her  two 
little  girls  in  white  muslin,  their  piquant, 
gypsy  faces  eager  with  interest  in  the 
conversation  of  their  elders,  gracefully 
grouped  about  her  knees. 

Perhaps  the  hint  of  maternal  devotion, 
admirably  displayed,  was  somewhat  de 
nied  by  the  lateness  of  the  hour  and  the 
unfitness  of  the  topic  under  discussion 
for  childish  ears ;  but  the  impression  was 
one  that  he  long  retained.  .  Moreover, 
he  found  that  in  another  line  also  she 
was  capable  of  making  for  herself  a  good 
name  with  apparently  as  little  effort. 

Precisely  upon  what  Mrs.  Alexander's 
reputation  as  a  great  authoress  was  based, 
49 


Florida  Alexander 

St.  John  found  some  difficulty  in  ascer 
taining.  No  one,  as  far  as  he  could  dis 
cover,  when  actually  brought  to  the  issue, 
seemed  able  to  point  to  a  single  publica 
tion  from  her  pen  ;  but  that  she  did  enjoy 
this  reputation,  somewhat  presuming  upon 
it,  there  could  not  be  the  smallest  doubt. 
And  the  fact  that  there  was  a  certain 
mystery  attached  to  her  literary  proceed 
ings  appeared  only  to  enhance  their  im 
portance.  It  was  whispered  that  for 
years  she  had  been  engaged  upon  the 
composition  of  a  work  that  would  surely 
render  her  famous,  if  not  immortal;  but 
the  nature  of  the  work  and  the  time  of 
its  probable  appearance  were  veiled  in  an 
obscurity  that  no  one  had  ever  pene 
trated. 

When  St.  John  wearied  of  this  study 
in  a  circle,  as  he  sometimes  did,  there 
were  other  persons  scarcely  less  interesting 
whom  he  was  accustomed  to  meet  at  this 
hospitable  mansion ;  beautiful  young  girls 
whose  soft  Southern  speech  and  simple 
high-breeding  delighted  him,  and  cordial, 
50 


Florida  Alexander 

manly  young  men  whom  he  found  it  easy 
to  like,  but  not  always  easy  to  appre 
hend.  Above  all,  there  was  always  the 
Major. 

Between  this  scholarly  gentleman  of  a 
bygone  day,  with  his  lofty  scorn  of  all 
recent  literary  methods,  and  one  of  the 
most  modern  of  modern  young  authors, 
there  had  sprung  up  a  rare  sympathy  and 
warmth  of  admiration.  Accordingly,  on 
Mrs.  Alexander's  Monday  evenings,  some 
of  St.  John's  pleasantest  moments  were 
spent  before  the  Major's  library  fire,  away 
from  the  babel  of  tongues  in  the  drawing- 
room,  while  he  listened  to  the  mellow 
tones  of  a  voice  that  thrilled  him  like  a 
strain  of  old-time  music.  But  the  draw 
ing-room  was  now  to  have  a  new  attrac 
tion  —  the  attraction  of  the  Major's 
daughter. 

She  had  been  at  home  for  about  a 
week  when  St.  John  received  one  of  Mrs. 
Alexander's  characteristic  missives,  which 
always  reminded  him  of  a  royal  mandate. 
He  found  the  note  lying  on  his  desk  one 
5' 


Florida  Alexander 

afternoon,  on  returning  rather  later  than 
ordinary  from  his  duties  at  the  college. 
He  smiled  grimly  as  he  broke  the  seal. 
Five  hours  in  the  class-room  was  scarcely 
a  preparation  for  that  agreeable  frame  of 
mind  with  which  he  could  have  wished 
to  approach  the  sacred  token  of  her  bid 
ding;  for  Mrs.  Alexander  was  evidently 
of  the  opinion  that  genius  always  ex 
presses  itself  in  hieroglyphics. 

As  he  applied  himself  to  the  difficult 
task  of  deciphering  her  message,  he  much 
regretted  that  she  had  not  seen  fit  to  imi 
tate  the  example  of  the  considerate 
Frenchman  who,  in  addressing  his  arch 
bishop,  thus  modestly  expressed  himself: 
"Out  of  respect  for  you,  sir,  I  have  writ 
ten  this  with  my  own  hand,  but  to  facili 
tate  the  reading  I  send  a  copy  which  I 
have  had  my  amanuensis  make."  He 
very  much  doubted  that  Mrs.  Alexander 
possessed  either  a  similar  modesty  or — 
an  amanuensis! 

However,  he  finally  made  it  clear  to 
himself  that  his  presence  was  desired  for 
52 


Florida  Alexander 

the  following  Monday  evening,  and  that 
the  occasion  was  to  differ  somewhat  from 
her  usual  informal  gatherings,  being  mu 
sical  rather  than  strictly  literary,  a  depart 
ure  which  her  mystic  pen  had  dubbed  "a 
hazard  of  dubious  diversion." 

St.  John  was  beginning  to  reach  the 
age  when  most  men  adjust  themselves 
more  or  less  to  the  inevitable  law  of  com 
promise.  But  thus  far  he  had  never  been 
able  to  bring  himself  to  anything  ap 
proaching  a  compromise  in  the  way  of 
music. 

He  had  just  fashioned  in  his  mind  some 
gracious  form  of  excuse  in  which  he 
congratulated  himself  as  appearing  suffi 
ciently  appreciative  not  to  call  down  an 
unrelenting  ire,  when  suddenly  he  be 
thought  himself  of  Miss  Alexander's 
voice.  He  sat  a  moment,  pen  in  hand,  re 
calling  the  pathos  of  those  wondrous  tones. 

Then,  with  the  exactness  which  he  al 
ways   employed,    even   in   small   matters, 
he   carefully  wrote   an   acceptance,  send 
ing  the  note  at  once. 
53 


V 

St.  John's  modest  habitation — a  one- 
story  frame  cottage  of  three  or  four 
rooms — had  been  selected  on  account  of 
its  pleasant  location  on  a  shady  street, 
remote  from  the  din  and  traffic  of  the 
town. 

Outwardly,  it  was  far  from  what  the 
young  man's  artistic  taste  would  have  pre 
ferred,  being  painted  a  vivid  green,  sup 
plemented  with  yellow  trimmings  of  a 
most  aggressive  order.  However,  there 
was  a  refreshing  little  grass-plot  in  front, 
a  spreading  elm,  as  well  as  two  pictur 
esque  apple-trees,  now  in  full  bloom  and 
breathing  the  very  essence  of  promise, 
the  dawn  and  delicacy  of  the  spring-tide. 
His  poet-nature,  especially  sensitive  to 
all  environment,  seemed  absolutely  to 
demand  some  contact,  limited  though  it 
54 


Florida  Alexander 

might  be,  with  the  growing  things  of 
earth  ;  and  his  earnest  reserve  rendered  an 
existence  in  the  average  boarding-house 
or  hotel  wholly  insupportable.  But  his 
incipient  attempts  at  housekeeping,  char 
acterized  by  a  man's  broad  but  clumsy 
methods,  had  been  fraught  with  difficul 
ties  unsuspected  in  his  calculations. 

In  the  first  place,  little  did  he  antici 
pate  that  an  obscure  advertisement  in  one 
of  the  daily  newspapers  expressing  a  de 
sire  on  his  part  for  a  competent  servant 
to  take  charge  of  his  manage,  and  briefly 
stating  his  terms  and  requirements,  etc., 
would  bring  down  upon  him  such  a  plague 
in  the  way  of  colored  applicants  as  was 
equaled  only  by  the  swarm  of  flies  that 
descended  upon  Pharaoh  and  the  Egyp 
tians  of  old.  At  all  events,  for  weeks 
after  this  notice  appeared,  in  season  and 
out  of  season,  through  fair  and  through 
stormy  weather,  he  was  besieged  with  a 
persistence  that  would  have  been  truly 
exasperating  had  there  not  been  a  touch 
of  drollery  in  the  experience  of  an  en- 
55 


Florida  Alexander 

tirely  novel  order.  And  it  was  not  until 
some  time  after  he  was  comfortably 
established,  and  the  unfamiliar  dialect 
had  ceased  to  sound  continually  in  his 
ears  that  he  discovered  the  blunder  he 
had  made. 

Out  of  the  multitudinous  throng  pre 
senting  a  strange  dissimilarity  as  to  cos 
tume,  age,  and  characteristics,  his  bewil 
dered  faculties  had  been  able  finally  to 
select  one  who  he  thought  would  prove 
best  suited  to  his  needs — an  able-bodied, 
elderly  person  of  neat  appearance,  whose 
twinkling  eyes,  set  in  an  ebon  counte 
nance,  seemed  to  express  an  intelligent 
amiability. 

In  answer  to  his  puzzled  inquiry  one 
day  concerning  his  first  mistake,  the  wom 
an  stood  for  a  moment  with  both  hands 
on  her  broad  hips,  smilingly  regarding 
him  with  an  air  of  astuteness  as  well  as 
of  affectionate  condescension. 

"Honey,"  said  she,  at  length,  as  if 
volunteering  an  explanation  to  a  child, 
"I  tell  you.  You  ought  never  tuh  said 
56 


Florida  Alexander 

nothin'  'bout  what  you  gwine  pay. 
Wait  an'  ax  'em  fust  what  they  been  git- 
tin'.  That  old  nigger  Abram,"  breaking 
into  a  generous  grin  at  the  reminiscence, 
"that  old  nigger  Abram  he  seed  it  in  th' 
paper,  an'  th'  preacher  done  give  it  out 
in  meetin',  an'  all  them  darkies  com 
menced  a-chucklin'  tuh  theyse'f,  thinkin' 
how  easy  't  would  be  tuh  cheat  yo'  ve'y 
eyes  out,  while  you  gone  long  tendin'  tuh 
yo'  bus'ness,  an'  they  hur  eatin'  they 
haids  off,  hangin'  over  th'  front  gate,  an' 
gittin'  bigger  wages  thin  anybody  else." 

"Am  I  really  giving  better  wages  than 
anybody  else,  Aunt  Phyllis?"  asked  the 
young  man,  amused,  having  readily 
adopted  the  usual  local  method  of  ad 
dress  when  speaking  to  her. 

The  woman  dropped  her  eyes. 

For  a  moment  she  appeared  a  trifle 
disconcerted,  but  she  was  equal  to  the 
occasion.  With  a  superb  gesture,  she 
raised  her  powerful  form  to  its  full  height. 

"Ef  you  is,"  she  asserted,  with  stern 
impressiveness,  "all  /  got  tuh  say,  ef  you 
57 


Florida  Alexander 

is  givin'  better  wages,  you  git  tin'  better 
work! 

And  with  the  triumphant  logic  of  this 
rejoinder,  it  was  evident  that  she  consid 
ered  the  matter  finally  dismissed ;  for  she 
maintained  a  proud  reticence  concerning 
it  in  the  future  that  no  teasing  innuendo 
was  able  to  disturb. 

Perhaps  it  was  there  and  then  that  she 
fully  assumed  an  authority  in  his  affairs 
which  St.  John  never  afterward  dared 
dispute.  In  point  of  fact,  she  proved 
herself  invaluable  in  many  ways,  especially 
as  a  toothsome  cook  of  the  good  old 
Southern  style ;  and  if  occasionally  he  had 
reason  to  suspect  her  of  the  fault  she  was 
so  ready  to  attribute  to  others  of  her  race, 
he  displayed  a  wisdom  that  older  house 
keepers  might  do  well  to  imitate :  he 
simply  refused  to  see  that  anything  went 
amiss.  Under  this  discreet  system  of 
management  they  proceeded  most  ami 
cably,  and  as  time  went  by,  her  watchful 
care  and  attention  and  her  good-natured 
chidings  as  well,  were  among  the  pleas- 
58 


Florida  Alexander 

antest  things  in  a  life  peculiarly  isolated 
and  barren  of  affection. 

He  spent  most  of  his  evenings  in  his 
cheerful  little  sitting-room  among  his 
books.  He  had  succeeded  in  making  the 
place  seem  quite  attractive  in  a  very  sim 
ple  way,  with  the  aid  of  shaded  lamps 
and  rugs  and  comfortable  chairs.  There 
were  several  good  etchings  on  the  walls, 
and  a  wide  table  covered  with  magazines 
and  papers  and  materials  for  writing, 
which  gave  a  certain  tone.  But  some 
thing,  a  mere  touch  somewhere,  per 
haps,  was  wanting,  and  St.  John  felt  it, 
and  lamented  it,  though  scarcely  referring 
his  regret  to  the  proper  source. 

On  the  evening  of  Mrs.  Alexander's 
musical  he  had  been  re-reading  Marius 
the  Epicurean,  especially  the  story  of 
Cupid  and  Psyche,  the  most  beautiful, 
because  the  most  human,  of  all  the  old 
mythological  legends,  and  rendered  even 
more  beautifully  human  by  the  pure  dic 
tion  of  Walter  Pater.  One  expression, 
above  all  others,  remained,  like  a  golden 
59 


Florida  Alexander 

thread  inlaid  in  ivory  and  intricately 
traced,  "the  hiddenness  of  perfect 
things." 

After  he  had  laid  the  book  aside,  he 
leaned  far  back  in  his  chair,  closed  his 
eyes,  and  gave  himself,  as  was  his  wont, 
wholly  up  to  the  train  of  thought  into 
which  his  imagination  drove  him.  One 
of  the  windows  was  open,  and  the  warm 
night  air,  heavy  with  perfume,  stole  lan 
guidly  into  the  room,  teasing  his  senses 
with  a  dim  suggestion  of  some  far-off, 
perfect  realm — an  existence,  alluring,  de 
lightful,  yet  never  to  be  attained — the 
ideal  life!  Unconsciously  the  moments 
slipped. 

He  was  hours  past  the  appointed  time 
when  he  finally  presented  himself  in  Mrs. 
Alexander's  crowded  drawing-room. 

The  affair  was  on  a  more  extensive 
scale  than  he  had  anticipated. 

He  had  just  reassured  himself  that  for 

this   reason    his   tardiness  could  scarcely 

have  been  considered,  when  his  hostess, 

regal  in  a  ruby-colored  velvet  gown,  and 

60 


Florida  Alexander 

blazing  with  jewels,  bore  severely  down 
upon  him. 

"I  fear  I  must  ask  your  gracious  in 
dulgence,"  he  began,  as  he  came  forward. 
There  was  always  a  formality,  a  unique 
picturesqueness  in  his  flawless  courtesy. 
And  it  was  most  characteristic  of  the  sim 
ple  sincerity  of  his  nature  that  he  added 
quickly,  in  slight  embarrassment: 

"I  had  been  reading,  and  the  time 
passed." 

Mrs.  Alexander  regarded  him  abstract 
edly  for  a  moment  with  eyes  that  seemed 
to  see  and  yet  not  to  see  him. 

"You  are  late,"  she  assented,  at 
length,  with  thinly  veiled  displeasure. 
"However,  I  believe  there  is  still  another 
number  on  the  programme."  She  spoke 
in  cold,  metallic  tones,  suggestive  of  some 
inward  irritation. 

At  this  moment  a  group  at  the  far  end 
of  the  long  room  parted,  and  a  young 
woman  advanced  toward  the  piano. 
Florida!  Florida,  in  a  quaint  white  silk 
gown  cut  low  on  the  shoulders,  and  wear- 
61 


Florida  Alexander 

ing  a  cluster  of  violets  among  the  coils  of 
her  smooth  brown  hair.  Her  lids  were 
downcast.  She  walked  slowly,  with  un 
studied  grace,  and  she  was  as  self-forget 
ful  as  if  there  had  not  been  an  eye  to  fol 
low  her  movements.  As  it  was,  however, 
every  glance  was  riveted  upon  her,  owing 
to  a  certain  magnetic,  compelling  power 
which  it  was  hers  always  to  exert.  St. 
John  purposely  found  a  chair  near  which 
no  one  was  seated ;  a  word  would  have 
jarred  upon  him,  perhaps  broken  the 
spell. 

And  it  seemed  to  him  that  suddenly 
the  room  had  taken  on  a  strange  new  bril 
liancy — a  touch  of  mystery,  of  poetic  grace 
which,  an  instant  before,  the  scene  had 
wholly  lacked.  There  was  that  about  her 
which  thrilled  him  like  the  sight  of  some 
perfect,  solitary  bloom  on  a  sterile 
mountain  height.  She  was  so  utterly 
apart,  so  different  from  all  the  rest,  so 
alone,  and  so  beautiful  in  her  sad  isola 
tion.  He  longed  to  speak  to  her,  to 
reach  out  both  of  his  hands  to  her,  and  in 
62 


Florida  Alexander 

a  rush  of  tenderness,  untinctured  by  a 
thought  but  that  of  human  sympathy, 
to  say:  "I,  too,  have  endured  it  all;  I 
understand."  He  felt  irresistibly  drawn 
to  her  through  the  kinship  of  a  like  ex 
perience  in  pain;  for  he  intuitively  knew 
that  upon  her,  beyond  whatever  of  actual 
sorrow  she  had  known,  the  mere  pressure 
of  life  had  heavily  weighed. 

He  waited  with  some  curiosity  for  the 
song  she  should  select.  He  recalled  the 
capabilities  of  her  voice ;  and  it  was  an 
opportunity. 

Her  hands  ran  aimlessly  over  the  keys. 
She  hesitated  a  moment,  then  threw  a 
warm,  brief  glance  across  the  room  to 
where  her  father  sat  with  his  eyes  upon 
her. 

It  was  the  quietest  of  quiet  little  songs 
that  Florida  sang,  and  it  was  evident  to 
St.  John,  from  the  first,  that  she  was 
singing,  entirely  regardless  of  effect — 
and  for  one.  And  though  they  cannot 
in  any  way  convey  the  impression  that 
was  made,  the  words  may  be  given  here 
63 


Florida  Alexander 

for  the  sake  of  their  own  simple,  long- 
forgotten  beauty: 

"On  the  lake  where  drooped  the  willow, 

Long  time  ago, 

Where  the  rock  threw  back  the  billow 
Curled  liquid  snow, 

"  Dwelt  a  maid  beloved  and  cherished 

By  high  and  low; 
But  alas,  too  soon  she  perished, 
Long  time  ago. 

"Rock  and  tree  and  flowing  water, 

Long  time  ago, 

Bird  and  bee  and  blossom  taught  her, 
Love's  spell  to  know. 

"  There  we  met  and  loved  and  parted, 

Long  time  ago, 

There  I  lingered,  broken-hearted; 
Tears,  let  them  flow. 

"  To  her  grave  they  're  sadly  given, 

Where  flow'rets  blow; 
She's  the  star  I  missed  from  heaven, 
Long  time  ago." 

For  some  time  after  the  song  had 
ceased,  and  the  hum  of  conversation  had 
begun,  the  thrall  of  that  pathetic  "long 
time  ago, ' '  with  all  of  its  far  suggestiveness, 
held  him  still.  St.  John  felt  in  no  mood 
64 


Florida  Alexander 

for  conversation,  and  accordingly  he  re 
mained  where  he  was  —  in  a  recess, 
shielded  by  a  portiere — bending  inatten 
tively,  and  by  way  of  apology  merely, 
over  an  illustrated  volume  on  the  table 
at  his  side. 

Presently  he  was  roused  from  the  mood 
that  possessed  him  by  Mrs.  Alexander's 
impatient  voice  near  by,  as  she  swept 
hurriedly  past. 

"Where  did  you  put  them,  Florida? 
Oh,  in  that  cabinet,  over  there?  What 
was  your  idea  for  such  careful  conceal 
ment?  I  want  you  to  take  the  one  giv 
ing  a  side  view  to  Judge  Overton.  He 
has  just  been  saying  that  to-day  I  am  the 
one  woman  in  Kentucky  who  can  boast 
an  absolutely  perfect  profile,  and  lament 
ing  the  fact  that  Joel  T.  Hart  no  longer 
lives.  He  spoke  of  it  just  after  you  had 
finished  singing,  my  dear.  And  now 
that  I  think  of  it,"  she  broke  off,  sud 
denly  lifting  her  superb  head  from  above 
the  bric-a-brac  through  which  she  had 
been  nervously  rummaging,  "let  me  ask 
65 


Florida  Alexander 

what  ever  possessed  you  to  select  that 
song? — so  absurdly  monotonous.  If  ever 
I  attempt  another  musical!" 

At  this  moment,  having  found  the  ob 
ject  of  her  search — a  package  of  her  latest 
photographs — she  turned  suddenly,  and 
espied  St.  John. 

"Ah!"  she  exclaimed,  with  frigidity; 
"so  this  is  your  way  of  making  yourself 
agreeable,  is  it,  Mr.  St.  John?" 

The  young  man's  dark  face  flushed 
hotly  at  her  tone.  He  had  scarcely  heard 
her  words.  His  eyes  were  fixed  in  an 
eager  scrutiny  upon  the  younger  woman's 
changeful  countenance.  Florida  was 
standing  quite  at  his  elbow,  and  she  drew 
back,  a  little  startled,  from  his  close 
proximity. 

"Wait  a  moment,  my  dear."  Mrs. 
Alexander  placed  a  firm  hand  upon  the 
girl's  wrist.  "There  is  no  hurry  about 
the  picture.  I  suppose  I  must  make 
you  two  young  people  acquainted,"  and 
she  went  through  the  form  of  introduc- 


66 


Florida  Alexander 

tion  as  if  lending  herself  to  an  act  alto 
gether  beneath  her. 

"Florida,  you  have  probably  heard  of 
Mr.  St.  John,"  she  added  with  super 
cilious  suavity.  "He  has  written  some 
sweet  little  verses;  you  may  have  seen 
them  in  the  magazines." 

A  look  of  pained  surprise  traced  itself 
upon  her  stepdaughter's  features.  Flor 
ida  opened  her  lips  to  speak,  evidently 
with  some  intention  to  try  to  do  away 
with  the  effect  of  a  discourtesy  offered  to 
one  really  distinguished,  hesitated  an 
instant,  and  then  in  silence  lifted  her 
eyes  impulsively,  beseechingly,  to  his, 
only  to  meet  his  absorbed,  half-amused, 
wholly  comprehending  gaze. 


67 


VI 

"  I  'm  sorry  she  ever  came  back,  that  's 
what  I  am;  aren't  you,  Ethel?" 

"Are  you,  Louise?  I  don't  know. 
Why?"  The  speaker,  a  little  brown 
creature  with  thin,  peaked  features, 
pushed  back  the  long  hair  from  about  her 
face,  and  looked  up,  meditatively,  for  a 
moment,  from  the  fascinations  of  one  of 
the  Duchess'  novels.  "Why  are  you 
sorry,  Louise?"  she  repeated  vaguely. 

"Oh,  because  I  am,  you  stupid,"  re 
plied  the  elder  girl  sharply;  "and  you'd 
be,  too,  if  you  knew  all  I  know,"  with 
an  air  of  superiority.  "You  didn't  hear 
her  telling  on  us  to  mama,  as  I  did,  the 
other  day.  I  was  listening  at  the  key 
hole,  and  I  heard  every  word." 

"Oh,  Louise!  What  did  she  tell?" 
The  child  had  begun  to  tremble  violently, 
68 


Florida  Alexander 

the  recollection  of  her  misdeeds  evidently 
weighing  heavily  upon  her  conscience. 
"Did  she  say  anything  about  me  reading 
the  Duchess?" 

"Yes,  she  did,"  returned  Louise, 
slowly  shaking  her  head,  and  eyeing  the 
culprit  with  a  solemn  stare.  "She  said 
she  thought  it  was  just  awful  in  mama  to 
let  you  read  such  things.  When  I  am  a 
young  lady  I  hope  I  won't  be  like  Flor 
ida,"  she  declared.  "I  shan't  care  for 
anything  but  beaux  and  diamonds,"  with 
a  simper  and  toss  of  the  head.  "She 
actually  asked  mama  to  let  her  teach  us 
a  little  while  every  day  this  summer. 
Now,  wasn't  that  just  the  meanest  thing 
you  ever  heard  of?  How  would  she  like 
to  go  to  school  all  winter  and  summer, 
too?" 

"  What  did  mama  say?"  cried  Ethel, 
aghast.  The  two  children  were  in  the 
garden,  seated  on  a  wooden  bench  under 
the  arbor. 

Louise  waited   several  moments,  teas- 
ingly,  before  she  deigned  to  reply. 
69 


Florida  Alexander 

"Mama  said,"  she  began,  finding  an 
obvious  delight  in  prolonging  the  agony 
of  suspense,  and  holding  a  grape  leaf  be 
fore  her  eyes  to  watch  the  effect  of  the 
sunlight  upon  it, — "I  wonder  if  we  shall 
have  many  grapes  this  year;  I  just  love 
grapes,  don't  you,  Ethel?" 

"Oh,  Louise,  what  did  mama  say?" 
Tears  had  gathered  in  the  dark  eyes,  and 
the  meager  little  form  was  quivering  with 
intense  anxiety.  "Won't  Florida  ever 
let  us  have  anything  more  to  eat?  And 
if  she  teaches  us,  do  you  think  she  will 
beat  us  every  day?" 

"Mama  said,"  pronouncing  the  words 
with  slow  distinctness,  and  with  a  re 
markable  mimicry  of  voice  and  manner, 
"she  said,  'For  pity's  sake,  Florida,  leave 
the  children  alone.  I  forbid  you,' — 
those  were  mama's  own  words — 'I  must 
positively  forbid  you  to  practice  any  of 
your  the — the — theryries  upon  them." 

"Then  you  are  a  hateful,  horrid  thing 
to  come  here  bothering  me  and  scaring 
me  half  to  death,"  exclaimed  Ethel,  with 
70 


Florida  Alexander 

an  angry  stamp  of  the  foot,  as  she  re 
turned  to  her  book.  "Go  away,  right 
this  minute;  I  want  to  read.  He  's  just 
going  to  propose." 

"Propose  indeed!  What  do  you  know 
about  proposing,  a  baby  like  you?  How 
old  are  you,  missy,  anyway,  I  'd  like 
to  know?" 

The  tiny  being  lifted  her  eyes  in  quite 
serious  surprise.  "Louise,"  said  she, 
gravely,  "that's  a  very  impolite  question; 
some  people  don't  like  to  tell  their  age. 
Besides,  I  wish  you'd  go  away,  you  make 
my  head  ache." 

''Your  head  ache!  You're  too  young 
to  have  the  headache,"  flouted  the  other, 
with  a  curl  of  the  lip.  "I  've  just  begun 
to  have  the  headache  myself,"  and  with 
this  utterly  crushing  rejoinder  she  arose 
with  much  dignity  and  marched  grandly 
into  the  house,  pausing,  however,  when 
her  foot  was  on  the  doorstep  to  throw 
back  a  mocking  little  laugh  in  the  direction 
of  the  grape-arbor.  "Your  head  ache! 
Little  bit  o'  thing  just  ten  years  old!" 


Florida  Alexander 

This  amiable  conversation  between  her 
two  little  half-sisters,  painfully  revealing 
their  disposition  toward  herself,  floated 
up  to  Florida  where  she  lay,  one  warm 
afternoon,  in  a  hammock  on  the  balcony 
outside  her  bedroom.  She  was  wide 
awake  in  an  instant,  stung  to  the  heart 
by  their  childish,  unpremeditated  cruelty. 
Suddenly  she  rose  and  walked  quickly  to 
the  balustrade,  thinking  to  call  the  chil 
dren  to  her.  But  she  checked  the  im 
pulse.  She  went  back  and  sat  down, 
putting  her  hand  to  her  head,  as  if  in 
pain. 

"I  ought  not — oh,  I  ought  never  to 
have  come  back  here!"  she  said  to  her 
self  with  a  sob.  "It  all  seems  such  a 
wasted  effort.  There  is  no  place  for 
me."  But  in  another  instant  a  passion 
of  unselfish  regret  had  swept  over  her. 
"Poor  little  misguided  ones,"  she  cried 
within  herself,  "and  if  only  I  might  help 
them — if  only  she  would  let  me  help 
them!"  feeling  her  woman's  nature 
stirred  with  a  yearning  pity  and  love. 
72 


Florida  Alexander 

And  this  incident,  trivial  as  ordinarily 
it  might  have  appeared,  contained  for  her 
a  mournful  and  impressive  meaning. 
What  was  it  possible  for  her  to  make  of 
her  life  here?  Thus  the  old  disturbing 
questionings  as  to  duty  and  responsibility 
were  roused  anew,  and  a  fuller  recogni 
tion  of  her  soul's  great  needs  was  thrust 
upon  her.  Wearied  of  all  the  world  had 
to  offer  as  far  as  her  own  life  was  con 
cerned,  yet  hearing  no  longer  the  call  to 
go  and  work  among  the  unfortunate  ones 
of  the  earth,  she  had  come  back  at  last 
to  this  that  she  called  her  home,  asking 
only  for  the  meagerest  share  in  its  daily 
hopes  and  interests,  and  ready  to  give 
her  all  in  return ;  but  she  had  felt  herself 
so  strangely  apart,  so  inharmonious  an 
element  that  it  seemed  wholly  impossi 
ble  to  make  herself  understood. 

She  lay  for  some  moments  in  her  ham 
mock,  flushed  and  ill  at  ease.  Instead  of 
the  dumb  apathy  that  had  been  over  her 
of  late,  all  her  former  restlessness  was 
revived,  but  modified  in  its  effect,  since 
73 


Florida  Alexander 

there  appeared  to  be  before  her  only  the 
prospect  of  a  weary  waste  of  years ;  and 
feeling  the  absolute  necessity  for  move 
ment,  activity  in  any  form,  she  realized 
that  she  was  caged,  bound  hand  and 
foot.  The  golden  afternoon  was  no 
longer  beautiful  to  her,  the  flower-scented 
air  was  sickening  and  oppressive.  She 
rose  and  went  into  her  bedchamber,  and 
removing  the  thin,  airy  garment  she  wore, 
dressed  herself  in  an  outdoor  costume. 

A  few  minutes  afterward  she  was  out 
of  the  house,  walking,  with  no  particu 
lar  destination  in  view,  up  the  shaded 
street. 

Not  too  far  away,  in  this  direction,  and 
just  outside  of  the  town,  there  was  a  dim 
old  woods  where  she  had  spent  many 
afternoons  since  her  return.  She  had 
just  decided  that  she  would  go  there  for 
an  hour's  quiet,  taking  the  electric  car  at 
the  corner,  and  walking  the  remainder  of 
the  way,  when  her  sensitive  ear  caught 
the  sound  of  a  voice  far  away  in  the  dis 
tance — a  voice  so  sweet  and  musical  and 
74 


Florida  Alexander 

wholesome  that  she  involuntarily  paused 
and  waited  for  it  to  come  nearer. 

It  proved  to  be  the  voice  of  a  boy  of 
ten  or  eleven  years,  as  ragged  and  un 
kempt  an  urchin  as  one  is  likely  to  see ; 
but  a  "bonnie  laddie"  he  was  withal,  she 
saw  as  he  approached,  for  there  was  a 
gleam  of  gold  in  the  curling  brown  hair 
and  a  wistful  look  in  the  violet  eyes  that 
went  straight  to  the  heart.  He  was  sing 
ing  a  cheap  little  air  caught  up  from  the 
streets,  yet  in  such  delicious  tune,  in  such 
spontaneous  overflow  of  joy  as  was  simply 
irresistible. 

Under  one  arm  he  carried  a  small 
bundle  of  newspapers,  having  disposed 
of  all  but  three.  At  the  sight  of  Florida 
and  the  intimation  of  a  possible  pur 
chaser,  he  suddenly  broke  off  in  his  sing 
ing,  the  clear,  ringing  voice  calling  forth 
in  the  most  business-like  and  matter-of- 
fact  tones. 

' '  Couritf/  Journal — Inquire — Commer- 
sliul!  All  about  the  fight !  Big  railroad 


75 


Florida  Alexander 

wreck !  Five  lives  lost !  Fourteen  crip 
pled 

"Will  you  sell  them  all  to  me?"  asked 
Florida,  cutting  short  the  deafening 
appeal,  and  motioning  in  the  direction  of 
the  papers. 

The  boy  came  to  an  abrupt  stand-still. 
He  regarded  her  a  trifle  suspiciously  for 
a  moment,  and  then  replied,  laconically, 
and  with  an  air  of  indifference: 

"Sell  'em  to  you  ef  you  wants  'em." 

"I  do  want  them,"  answered  Miss 
Alexander,  sweetly,  opening  her  purse 
and  watching  the  saucy  little  face  with 
interest.  "I  think  I  shall  be  glad  to  buy 
one  from  you  every  day  if  you  will  be 
so  good  as  to  give  me  the  opportunity. 
But  you  will  have  to  tell  me  your  name, 
so  that  in  the  future  I  shall  be  able  to 
distinguish  you  from  others  of  your  pro 
fession.  Would  you  object  to  telling  me 
your  name?" 

"Named  Tim,"  was  the  brief  response. 

"Ah,  Tim,  is  it?"  exclaimed   Florida, 


76 


Florida  Alexander 

bestowing  a  radiant  smile  upon  the  little 
fellow.  "Do  you  know,  Tim,  I  have  al 
ways  thought  that  a  very  sweet  name?  I 
can't  recall  that  I  have  ever  known  any 
one  whose  name  was  Tim  before,"  reflec 
tively;  "but  I  do  like  it,  very  much  in 
deed." 

The  youngster  made  no  reply.  He 
seated  himself  upon  the  curbstone,  evi 
dently  feeling  that  his  work  of  the  day 
was  over,  having  disposed  of  the  last  of 
his  papers,  and  taking  from  his  pocket  a 
large,  red,  juicy  apple,  he  proceeded  to 
devour  it  with  avidity,  manifesting  about 
as  much  recognition  of  his  interrogator's 
presence  as  a  Hindu  idol  is  in  the  habit 
of  bestowing  upon  its  votaries. 

"Is  Tim  the  only  name  you  have?" 
inquired  Miss  Alexander,  presently.  She 
was  leaning  against  one  of  the  maples 
that  lined  the  sidewalk,  and  there  was  a 
half-playful,  half-serious  look  in  her  eyes. 
"Is  Tim  your  only  name?"  she  asked 
persuasively. 

"Twine,"  was  the  oracular  response. 
77 


Florida  Alexander 

Miss  Alexander  nodded.  "Timothy 
Twine  it  is,  then,  in  full,"  said  she,  smil 
ing  still.  "And  do  you  know,  Mr.  Tim 
othy  Twine,  you  have  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  voices  that  was  ever  heard? 
How  should  you  like — "  She  hesitated 
a  moment  before  making  the  proposition, 
seeming  in  the  next  instant  to  arrive  at  a 
quick  decision;  "how  should  you  like  to 
come  to  me  for  a  short  while  every  after 
noon  for  a  little  study  in  music  and — and 
other  things?  I  should  so  much  like  to 
have  you.  Will  you  come?" 

"Dunno."  Then  after  a  pause  in 
which  the  young  gentleman  had  well-nigh 
choked  himself  into  a  fit  from  a  too-boun 
tiful  bite  of  apple,  he  slowly  turned  his 
eyes  toward  her.  "You  better  lookin'," 
he  admitted,  after  a  prolonged  scrutiny, 
"than  t  'other  one." 

"T  'other  one?"  suggested  Miss  Alex 
ander  gravely. 

"The  long-nosed  one." 

"Oh,"  Florida  hastened  to  declare,  "I 
should  hope  so.  I  never  did  like  long- 
78 


Florida  Alexander 

nosed  people  myself;  Tim,  I'm  like  you 
in  that.  Do  you  know,  I  think  we  are 
going  to  be  very  good  friends,  indeed. 
Tell  me  now,  what  is  your  chief  objection 
to  long-nosed  people?" 

"They  's  too  meddlesome." 

Miss  Alexander  winced  a  little  under 
this  rather  pointed  thrust. 

"And  was  that  the  fault  of  't'other 
one'?  Was  she  inclined  to  be  meddle 
some  also?" 

"You  bet!  Gcewhilikins,  wuzn't  she 
er  stunner!"  He  swallowed  the  last 
piece  of  his  apple,  core  and  seeds  and 
stem  and  all,  and  straightening  himself 
up  with  an  expression  of  deep  inward 
satisfaction,  he  philosophically  resigned 
himself  to  the  enforced  conversation. 

"She  had  right  smart  pimples  on  her 
face,"  he  volunteered,  "an'  her  hair  wuz 
kinder  black  an'  kinky.  She  wuz  a  sight 
taller  'n  you  air.  She  wore  specs." 

"Did  she,  Tim?"  inquired  Florida, 
with  sympathetic  interest.  "But  you 
know  she  should  not  be  judged  too  harshly 
79 


Florida  Alexander 

for  that ;  she  may  have  had  weak  eyes. 
As  for  her  nose — I  can't  help  holding 
her  just  a  little  responsible  for  her  nose, 
if  it  's  all  you  say  of  it;  I  resent  it  as  a 
personal  affront.  But  what  did  she  do 
to  you?" 

"She  tuk  me  down  to  er  church,  an' 
they  put  er  long  white  shut  on  me,  an' 
had  me  a-singin'  in  the  choir  long  with 
the  rest,  an'- 

"Oh,  I  understand.  But  my  plans  for 
you  were  of  a  different  and  much  less  pious 
description.  I  am  not  in  any  way  connect 
ed  with  choir  boys  myself,  so  you  see  the 
lady  with  the  long  nose  and  pimply  coun 
tenance  was  a  far  more  serious  and  worthy 
individual,  after  all.  I  merely  thought 
to  give  you  a  little  musical  training  that 
would  be  helpful  to  you  in  the  years  to 
come ;  for  you  are  going  to  be  one  of  the 
great  singers  of  the  world,  Tim,  there 
cannot  be  the  smallest  doubt  of  that,  and 
I  felt  a  selfish  longing  to  go  down  to  fame 
'on  the  hem  of  your  garments,'  so  to 
speak — as  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  remarked 
80 


Florida  Alexander 

after  he  had  painted  the  portrait  of  Mrs. 
Siddons." 

Unable  to  appreciate  more  than  a  word 
or  two  of  this  airy  flight,  Tim's  glance 
again  took  on  the  look  of  mistrust  it  had 
worn  when  she  had  insisted  upon  pur 
chasing  all  of  his  papers. 

"And  I  thought,"  she  continued, 
"that  you  might  not  find  it  altogether 
tiresome  to  make  me  this  little  visit  every 
day,  on  account  of  the  cherries,  and  the 
strawberries  and  the  peaches  and  the 
grapes  that  grow  at  the  place  where  I  live. 
You  may  have  just  as  much  of  everything 
as  you  possibly  can  eat,  Tim,  for  the 
sake  of  that  lovely  voice  of  yours." 

The  boy's  eyes  seemed  starting  out  of 
his  head.  "Who  you  be?"  he  finally 
blurted  out,  in  a  kind  of  reverential  awe. 

An  expression  of  deep  sadness  traced 
itself  upon  Miss  Alexander's  features. 
"I  don't  know,  Tim,"  she  replied,  very 
humbly.  "I  don't  think  I'm  anybody 
when  it  comes  to  that.  Sometimes  I 
think  there  is  just  one  word  to  describe 
81 


Florida  Alexander 

me;  but  it  is  not  a  very  pretty  word,  and 
it  is  failure.  Perhaps,  if  you  will  come, 
by  and  by  there  will  be  some  other  word 
— a  better  and  more  hopeful  word  for  me. 
At  all  events,  I  assure  you  I  have  not 
misrepresented  things  in  the  least ;  the 
cherries  and  the  strawberries  and  the 
peaches  and  the  grapes  are  all  there,  or 
will  be  there,  and  they  are  waiting  for 
you." 

The  rapture  that  beamed  from  the 
small,  eager  face  was  a  joy  to  see.  And 
even  now  she  seemed  to  experience  a 
foretaste  of  the  warmth  that  was  to  come 
into  her  heart  through  contact  with  the 
life  of  a  trustful  little  child;  for  there 
crept  a  sweet,  gentle  look  into  her  eyes, 
and  she  dropped  the  slightly  bantering 
and  bewildering  tone  in  her  speech. 

"Then  you  will  come,  Tim?"  she  said, 
softly. 

"I'll  have  to  ask  pap  fust.  Gimini! 
don't  I  hope  he'll  lemme!" 

"Let's  go  and  ask  him  now.  Is  it 
very  far  away?" 

82 


Florida  Alexander 

"'Tain't  fur.  Right  'round  yender  on 
Georgetown  street,  next  doo'  to  the  sa 
loon." 

"But  won't  he  be  at  work  at  this  hour 
of  the  day?" 

"Pap  don't  do  no  work,"  replied  the 
child,  loftily.  "Leastways,  he  don't  do 
much,  'ceptin'  drivin'  a  dump-cart  oncet 
in  a  while,  when  he  gits  ready." 

It  was  obvious  that  Mr.  Timothy 
Twine  the  elder  was  the  gentleman  of 
elegant  leisure  that  his  son  had  described, 
for  he  was  found  seated  upon  the  wooden 
doorstep  of  his  ramshackle  abode  adjoin 
ing  the  corner  grocery,  smoking  a  pipe  of 
peace,  his  bland  countenance  unruffled  by 
a  care.  He  stumbled  awkwardly  to  his 
feet,  being  somewhat  afflicted  with  rheu 
matism,  as  Miss  Alexander  and  his  boy 
approached.  A  sly  twinkle  shone  in  his 
eye. 

"Mr.  Twine,"  said  the  young  lady, 
quite  simply,  "I  have  come  to  ask  you 
to  lend  me  Tim  for  a  little  while  every 
afternoon;  I  want  to  teach  him  some- 


Florida  Alexander 

thing  of  music.  And  I  shall  consider  it 
a  kindness  if  you  will  let  him  come.  He 
is  very  eager  for  your  permission." 

Mr.  Twine's  broad  countenance  relaxed 
still  further  in  a  grin  of  fond,  paternal 
pride. 

"Tim's  powerful  pop'lar, "  he  declared, 
with  a  wink;  ''powerful  pop'lar.  There 
wuz  another  un  here  after  him  no  more'n 
six  weeks  ago." 

"So  he  has  told  me,"  assented  Miss 
Alexander.  "He  has  really  a  most  beau 
tiful  voice,  and  it  should  be  managed 
with  the  utmost  care.  For  the  present, 
I  had  thought  of  giving  him  lessons  on 
the  piano,  if  you  have  no  objection  to 
the  plan." 

Mr.  Twine  seemed  unable  to  grapple 
with  so  important  a  question  standing,  so 
he  again  seated  himself  upon  the  door 
step.  He  appeared  to  be  slowly  revolv 
ing  the  idea  in  his  mind.  Presently  he 
looked  up.  "The  jews' -harp  makes 
mighty  prutty  music,"  he  remarked,  con 
fidentially,  at  length;  "mighty  prutty 


Florida  Alexander 

music.  Ef  I  could  afford  it,  I'd  have 
one  all  the  time." 

At  the  suggestion  of  such  reckless  ex 
penditure,  Miss  Alexander  kept  an  em 
barrassed  silence. 

"Then  Tim  may  begin  his  lessons  to 
morrow  afternoon?"  she  said  finally.  "I 
thank  you  very  much  for  allowing  him  to 
come.  I  live  not  very  far  from  here.  I 
am  Miss  Alexander — Major  Alexander's 
daughter;  you  may  know  the  name." 

"Know  the  name?  Bless  my  soul! 
The  ole  Major's  darter,  did  ye  say?  Bless 
my  soul!  Well,  I  jes'  reckon  I  do  know 
the  ole  Major — fin'st  ole  gentleman  in  the 
State  o'  Kentucky,  or  anywheres  else,  fur 
the  matter  o'  that.  The  ole  Major!  Why 
he  can't  be  beat  by  nobody,"  said  Mr. 
Twine,  waxing  more  and  more  eloquent  as 
he  went  along,  after  the  fashion  of  Ken 
tucky  orators.  "Me  an'  him's  great 
friends.  Been  friends  nigh  onto  twenty 
year.  Time  an'  agin,  when  he's  seen  me 
a-reelin'  long  kinder  off  like,  Miss,  he's 
put  his  han'  on  my  shoulder  right  firm 
85 


Florida  Alexander 

like,  an'  he  sez:  'Tim,'  sez  he,  you  will 
kill  yourself ef  you  don't  leave  off  a-fre- 
quentin'  of  the  dram-shop,  ez  you  air 
a-doin',' sezhe.  But  Lord,  Miss,  'twan't 
nothin'  but  beer.  The  ole  Major's  ez 
innercent  ez  a  lam' ;  he  wuz  thinkin'  of 
ole  Bourbon;  but  'twan't  nothin'  but 
beer." 

Not  feeling  herself  capable  of  doing 
full  justice  to  this  distinction,  Florida 
wisely  brought  the  interview  to  an  end. 

And  so,  with  little  Tim,  there  had  come 
a  new  element  into  her  life,  and  existence 
seemed  no  longer  an  altogether  empty 
thing. 


86 


VII 

And  May  had  come  at  last ! 

All  the  long  winter  in  his  wanderings 
through  the  brown  woods  St.  John  had 
found  himself  looking  forward  to  the  com 
ing  of  spring  under  the  soft  Kentucky 
skies  with  especial  anticipation.  On 
many  portions  of  the  globe  he  had  waited 
for  her  return,  stretching  forth  the  eager 
arms  of  a  lover  to  receive  her,  and  feeling 
his  heart  warm  and  thrill  in  her  presence 
with  profoundest  joy.  But  something 
had  caused  him  to  believe  that  this  time 
her  advent  would  be  different  from  any 
other.  For  miles  around  he  knew  the 
country  with  the  precision  that  comes 
from  the  habit  of  close  and  studious  ob 
servation,  the  exactness  of  the  trained  eye 
and  ear  of  the  practiced  writer.  And  his 
reward  had  been  to  hear  the  first  song  of  the 
87 


Florida  Alexander 

bluebird  and  the  robin,  and  one  day  clown 
by  the  willows  to  catch  an  early  "halcyon 
note"  above  the  cold  gurgle  of  the  stream 
as  the  kingfisher,  like  a  cerulean  flash, 
darted  across  the  brook.  "Now  surely, 
we  shall  have  fine  weather!"  he  had  said 
to  himself  in  almost  boyish  glee,  recalling 
the  pretty  old  legend  of  the  bird.  But 
the  winter  had  been  bleak  for  Kentucky, 
and  March  had  been  even  more  boister 
ous  than  March  generally  is,  and  April  of 
most  uncertain  mood ;  so  that  it  was  not 
until  May  had  been  fully  ushered  in  that 
he  felt  safe  in  abandoning  himself  to  a 
secure  delight.  However,  one  learns  to 
wait. 

One  brilliant  morning  near  the  middle 
of  the  month  he  came  and  stood  in  his 
doorway,  looking  out  upon  a  street  rus 
tling  in  cool,  green  silken  garments  and 
vocal  with  the  singing  of  birds  and  the 
shouts  of  happy  children  at  play. 

Opposite,  what  promised  to  be  a  some 
what  imposing  structure  was  in  process  of 
erection.  The  workmen  called  cheerily 


Florida  Alexander 

to  each  other  as  they  went  about  their  al 
lotted  tasks.  One,  standing  on  a  long 
ladder  high  above  the  heads  of  all  the 
rest,  broke  forth,  from  time  to  time,  into 
snatches  of  a  song,  yet  never  pausing  an 
instant  in  his  work. 

"I  look  away  across  the  sea 
Where  mansions  are  prepared  for  me," 

sang  the  man  in  a  voice  quavering  and 
broken,  but  with  now  and  then  a  note  of 
rare  sweetness,  just  as  an  old  worn-out 
instrument  will  sometimes  emit  pleasant 
sounds  solely  because  of  the  music  that 
is  in  the  heart  of  the  player. 

With  a  touching  significance  the  voice 
floated  down  to  St.  John  where  he  stood 
idly  surveying  a  display  of  energies  which 
he  felt  in  no  way  disposed  to  emulate. 

The  street,  which  was  long  and  well- 
shaded  throughout,  was  regarded  as  an 
attractive  drive,  and  this  morning  it  was 
thronged  with  coupes,  carts,  victorias — 
vehicles  of  every  kind.  Their  occupants 
basked  in  the  genial  sunshine,  and  lent  an 
air  of  festivity  to  the  scene  by  their  crisp, 
89 


Florida  Alexander 

fresh  toilets,  being  suggestive  of  huge 
nosegays  borne  gayly  past.  All  Lexing 
ton  appeared  to  be  on  wheels,  and  to  be 
moving  by  his  door.  Now  and  again 
from  beneath  a  gauzy  parasol  or  wide, 
flower-bedecked  hat  there  was  a  smile  and 
gracious  bow  in  his  direction.  No  one 
seemed  to  be  going  anywhere,  he  ob 
served,  or  to  have  the  smallest  object  in 
view  beyond  a  sensuous  indulgence  in  the 
mere  joys  of  living.  And  some  of  their 
charming  irresponsibility  must  have  com 
municated  itself  to  him,  also,  with  demor 
alizing  effect ;  for  while  he  was  debating 
as  to  how  he  should  best  employ  his  time, 
it  being  a  Saturday  morning,  suddenly 
there  awoke  in  him  a  spirit  of  revolt,  and 
he  decided  at  once,  and  with  emphasis, 
that  as  for  him,  he,  too,  would  do  no 
more  work  that  day  of  any  kind — no,  not 
so  much  as  the  writing  down  of  a  single 
line  of  verse,  simply  because  the  sun 
shone  so  and  the  whole  earth  seemed  so 
glad. 

Presently,  with  the  expression  of  one 
90 


Florida  Alexander 

about  to  yield  to  temptation,  he  let  his 
glance  wander  far  down  the  street  in  the 
direction  of  the  Alexander  mansion.  Its 
tall,  white  columns  were  barely  to  be 
discerned  through  the  trees.  Since  the 
musical  he  had  called  repeatedly.  He 
was,  therefore,  at  some  difficulty  to  per 
suade  himself  that  it  was  highly  proper 
he  should  present  himself  there  again  on 
this  particular  morning;  yet  he  did  very 
much  wish  to  go. 

From  the  first  he  had  been  ready  to 
admit  that  he  found  Miss  Alexander 
something  more  than  interesting.  Many 
people  were  that ;  she  was  more.  He 
could  have  wished  at  times  that  she 
would  meet  him  a  little  less  frankly — with 
an  occasional  dash  of  coquetry  or  self- 
consciousness,  perhaps;  but  she  was 
never  self-conscious  with  him  in  the  least. 

He  had  hoped  that  they  might  be 
friends,  picturing  to  himself  the  future 
delights  of  such  companionship — he  who 
lent  himself  so  sparingly  to  association 
with  his  fellow-beings,  less  perhaps  on 
9* 


Florida  Alexander 

account  of  a  lack  in  warmth  of  nature  than 
because  of  a  constitutional  constraint. 

Always  most  cordial,  most  kind,  when 
she  turned  her  great  sad  eyes  upon  him, 
he  felt  as  if  she  were  looking  at  him  from 
a  long  way  off,  and  without  recognition. 
And  though,  with  infinite  tact — never 
however,  having  actually  dwelt  upon  the 
subject  of  his  work — she  had  caused  him 
to  feel  that  she  respected  what  he  had 
done,  yet  to  him  as  the  individual  aside 
from  the  author  he  could  not  flatter  him 
self  into  believing  that  she  had  given  the 
briefest  thought. 

But  the  passionate  reserve  of  his  own 
nature  respected  the  proud  reticence  of 
hers,  and  the  strange  isolation  in  which 
she  chose  to  veil  herself  rendered  her  pe 
culiarly  alluring;  for  Mystery  is  always 
twin-sister  to  Charm,  if  they  be  not  one 
and  the  same. 

In  temperament  they  were  totally  un 
like  ;  with  him  repression  was  inherent ; 
with  her  it  had  been  developed  through 
circumstances.  But  she  was  not  without 
92 


Florida  Alexander 

occasional  swift,  daring  impulses  which 
sometimes  thrust  all  barriers  aside,  giving 
her  imprisoned  soul  the  wing;  and  she 
was  far  from  being  habitually  triste.  On 
the  contrary,  he  noted  that  she  had 
moods  of  impetuous  expression,  when 
her  speech  was  brilliant  and  her  counte 
nance  illumined  with  the  flash  of  unre 
strained  thought;  furthermore,  she  pos 
sessed  a  rare  sense  of  humor,  lending 
herself  to  mirth  with  a  gayety,  feverish 
and  spasmodic  it  is  true,  but  in  a  manner 
irresistible.  It  was  only  when  her  face  was 
in  repose  and  she  had  withdrawn  again 
into  herself  that  one  recognized  upon  her 
features  the  imprint  of  a  sadness  unspeak 
able,  as  of  some  fatal,  haunting  remem 
brance. 

It  suddenly  came  to  St.  John,  looking 
longingly  in  the  direction  of  her  abode, 
that  he  still  retained  several  rare  old  vol 
umes  of  early  Kentucky  history  kindly 
lent  him  by  the  Major,  and  he  decided 
that  this  was  a  most  fitting  occasion  to 
return  unto  that  gentleman  his  own.  He 
93 


Florida  Alexander 

accordingly  departed  with  alacrity  into 
the  house,  appearing  a  few  moments 
afterward  with  half  a  dozen  time-worn 
volumes(which,  however,  he  guarded  most 
carefully,  knowing  well  their  priceless 
value)  under  his  arm. 

He  would  ask  for  the  Major,  he  de 
cided,  as  he  proceeded  down  the  street^ 
no  one  else,  adding  that  he  had  come  to 
return  some  books.  And  Fortune  might 
be  kind ;  at  all  events,  he  would  present 
himself  as  a  humble  suppliant  for  her 
favor. 

He  found  the  Major  in  his  library, 
standing  with  his  back  to  the  door,  and 
just  about  to  take  a  beloved  volume  from 
one  of  the  bookshelves. 

The  aged  colored  man  that  announced 
St.  John  coughed  behind  his  hand  in  re 
spectful  hesitation,  being  evidently  of  the 
opinion  that  the  call  was  inopportune ; 
nevertheless,  desirous  of  maintaining  the 
hospitable  record  of  the  house,  he  threw 
wide  the  heavy  oaken  door,  ushering 
in  the  visitor  with  especial  stateliness 
94 


Florida  Alexander 

as  a  mark  of  his  own  private  considera 
tion. 

"Eh?"  inquired  the  Major,  absently, 
without  lifting  his  head  from  his  book, 
the  pages  of  which  he  was  slowly  scan 
ning  in  search  of  a  favorite  passage. 
"Eh?  What  is  it,  Abram?" 

"Pardon  the  interruption,  Major,"  said 
St.  John,  advancing  in  some  embarrass 
ment;  "I " 

The  Major,  slightly  bewildered,  turned, 
adjusted  his  spectacles,  and  perceiving 
St.  John,  came  forward  with  outstretched 
hand. 

"Ah,  is  it  you,  my  young  friend?"  he 
exclaimed,  heartily.  "This  is  kind,  very 
kind.  Have  that  chair,"  indicating  the 
one  in  which  he  himself  was  accustomed 
to  sit. 

"I  will  sit  here,  thank  you,  Major,"  re 
plied  St.  John,  taking  the  nearest  seat. 
"I  can  remain  only  for  a  moment.  I 
came  to  return  these  books,  and  I  am 
afraid  that  I  have  rather  trespassed  upon 
your  kindness  in  keeping  them  so  long." 
95 


Florida  Alexander 

The  Major  waved  his  hand.  "My 
library  is  always  at  your  disposal,  sir. 
Never  hesitate  to  make  use  of  it  as  if  it 
were  your  own." 

"I  have  found  the  study  of  the  early 
history  of  the  State  as  presented  by  these 
authorities  delightfully  entertaining,"  St. 
John  began,  having  expressed  his  grateful 
appreciation  of  this  courtesy.  "There 
can  be  no  question  that  the  first  settlers 
were  a  most  remarkable  people." 

The  Major's  countenance  glowed  with 
the  pride  of  a  true  Kentuckiari. 

"Ah,  Mr.  St.  John,"  he  said,  "if  I 
mistake  not,  as  you  continue  your  studies 
you  will  find  ample  justification  of  the 
praises  that  have  been  bestowed  upon  this 
people.  But  how  few  are  the  names  that 
are  imperishable!  New  leaders  will  ap 
pear  to  dim  the  remembrance  of  Ken 
tucky's  abler  sons,  and  in  the  great  party 
strifes  'our  children's  children  will  raise 
new  idols,  and  cavil  where  their  sires 
adored.'  '  He  spoke  under  the  stress  of 
a  profound  emotion. 
96 


Florida  Alexander 

St.  John  was  silent  for  a  moment,  and 
then  said,  very  gently:  "I  feel  that  I 
have  never  been  able  to  express  to  you 
my  gratitude  for  the  aid  you  have  given 
me  through  our  conversations  on  these 
subjects.  There  are  a  number  of  things 
in  connection  with  the  pioneer  period,  es 
pecially,  upon  which  I  should  like  to 
have  your  opinions,"  he  continued. 
"And  some  time  when  you  are  in  the 
mood  for  imparting  them,  I  should  be 
glad  to  have  your  views  in  regard  to  the 
mounds  of  this  section,"  adding,  by  way 
of  throwing  off  the  discussion  for  the 
time,  "That  is  an  interesting  suggestion 
offered  by  some  that  this  town  is  built 
upon  the  site  of  an  ancient  walled  city." 

A  merry  twinkle  crept  into  the  Major's 
eyes,  and  the  corners  of  his  mouth 
twitched. 

"I  think,"  said  he,  at  length,  with  a 
quiet  smile,  "that  some  of  my  ancestors 
would  have  felt  disposed  to  answer  those 
learned  gentlemen  you  speak  of  somewhat 
in  the  fashion  of  old  Edie  Ochiltree's 
97 


Florida  Alexander 

reply  to  the  Antiquary.  The  latter  was 
eloquently  disclosing  to  young  Lovel  his 
discovery  of  the  exact  local  situation  of 
the  final  conflict  between  Agricolaand  the 
Caledonians,  pointing  out  the  site  of  the 
Praetorium  of  the  Roman  camp.  'Prae 
torian  here,  Praetorian  there,'  said  old 
Edie,  who  had  suddenly  appeared  upon 
the  scene.  'I  mind  the  bigging  o't.' 

It  was  evident,  for  that  day  at  least, 
that  the  Major  was  not  disposed  to  treat 
the  matter  seriously,  and  fearing  that  he 
had  already  stayed  too  long,  St.  John 
arose  a  few  moments  afterward  to  take 
his  departure,  the  Major  insisting  that  he 
should  remain,  yet  unable,  however,  to 
restrain  a  covert  glance  from  time  to  time 
in  the  direction  of  "The  Excursion,"  ly 
ing  temptingly  near  on  the  table. 

But  just  as  he  was  leaving,  unexpect 
edly,  the  opportunity  St.  John  had  hoped 
for  was  bestowed.  The  Major  crossed 
the  room,  and  throwing  open  a  glass  door 
leading  by  a  flight  of  steps  into  the  gar 
den,  said  pleasantly: 


Florida  Alexander 

"You  will  find  my  daughter  out  there 
among  the  roses.  If  an  old  man  cannot 
interest  you  this  bright  day — 

And  so  quite  easily  it  had  come  about 
that  St.  John  found  himself  an  instant 
afterward  walking  down  the  long  gravel 
path  precisely  in  the  direction  he  desired, 
his  heart-beats  quickening  with  every 
step,  and  the  breath  of  myriad  flowers 
rousing  his  senses  to  a  tumultuous  fancy. 

She  was  seated  under  a  wide-spreading 
elm  almost  as  large  as  that  described  as 
having  furnished  a  council  hall  for  the 
"Colony  of  Transylvania  in  America," 
the  first  legislative  body  ever  assembled 
west  of  the  Alleghanies. 

Saturated  as  he  was  with  the  old  stories 
in  the  romantic  history  of  the  State,  al 
ready  he  had  begun  to  invest  her  with 
something  of  their  remote  picturesque- 
ness,  while  the  author  in  him  presented 
her  vigorous  young  womanhood  as  a  fit 
ting  type  for  a  poetic  narration  of  those 
by-gone  days.  Throwing  his  thoughts 
backward  a  hundred  years  and  more,  and 
99 


Florida  Alexander 

with  many  a  delicate  touch  of  form  and 
color,  in  his  imagination  he  conceived  of 
her  as  one  of  that  band  of  heroic  women 
at  Bryan's  Station,  who,  in  order  to  ren 
der  it  possible  to  resist  the  siege, 
marched  valiantly  to  the  spring  for  water 
within  the  rifle  shot  of  six  hundred  Indian 
warriors.  Or,  might  she  not,  under  sim 
ilar  circumstances,  have  been  capable  of 
some  such  daring  deed  as  that  of  that  lov 
ing  one  who  unbarred  the  gate  of  the  fort 
for  the  wounded  young  hunter  pursued 
by  savages,  only  to  receive  her  lover  dead 
in  her  embrace?  He  could  readily  pic 
ture  her  as  one  of  the  wives  or  sisters  or 
sweethearts  of  those  days,  molding  the 
bullets  for  the  rifles  of  the  men,  caring 
for  their  wounds,  sharing  their  every  peril 
and  hardship — perhaps  as  one  of  the 
widows  mourning  the  hideous  slaughter  of 
the  Blue  Licks,  and  yet  laying  aside  her 
grief  to  buckle  on  the  armor  of  her  aveng 
ing  friends. 

Some  lines  of  one  of  the  early  poets  in 


Florida  Alexander 

the  State  began  to  sing  to  him  as  he  drew 
nearer: 

"The  mothers  of  our  forest  land 

Their  bosoms  pillowed  men; 
And  proud  were  they  by  such  to  stand 

In  hammock,  fort,  or  glen, 
To  load  the  sure  old  rifle, 

To  run  the  leaden  ball, 
To  watch  a  battling  husband's  place, 

And  fill  it,  should  he  fall.  " 

And  as  he  looked  at  her  now,  the  fin 
ished  product  of  an  advanced  civilization, 
manifesting  in  her  bearing  the  self-poise 
of  the  college-bred  woman  and  the  ac 
complished  grace  that  comes  of  a  luxuri 
ous  living,  he  realized  that  much  of  her 
romantic  attraction  for  him  lay  in  the 
knowledge  that  there  flowed  in  her  veins 
the  blood  of  such  women ;  and  he  intui 
tively  felt  that  she  must  be  all  the  braver 
and  sweeter  and  truer  because  they  had 
lived  and  loved  and  suffered  and  died  so 
many  long  years  before. 

Not  a  detail  in  her  appearance  escaped 
him  to-day,  and  he  saw  that  she  was 
charming  in  a  white  lawn  gown,  a  black 

101 


Florida  Alexander 

Gainsborough  hat  with  plumes,  and  a 
light  silk  shawl  of  a  bird's-egg  blue 
thrown  loosely  about  hei  shoulders.  She 
was  reading,  apparently  with  absorbing 
interest,  a  book  which  she  thrust  a  little 
hurriedly  aside  when  she  looked  up  sud 
denly  to  find  him  standing  within  a  few 
yards  of  her. 

"Ah — you?"  she  cried,  a  trifle  discon 
certed  for  an  instant,  yet  flashing  a 
warm,  welcoming  smile  upon  him.  "You 
must  have  borrowed  Siegfried's  cloud- 
cloak." 

He  noted  that  the  pomegranate  glow 
in  her  cheeks  was  heightened,  and  that 
there  was  a  sparkle  in  her  eyes  as  if  the 
glory  over  the  earth  had  thrilled  her  to  a 
passionate  forgetfulness  of  self.  Never 
had  he  seen  her  in  precisely  such  a  mood. 
He  came  forward  with  an  eagerness  that 
contrasted  strangely  with  his  customary 
formality. 

"Did  he  get  tired  of  you?"  Florida 
asked,  gayly,  as  she  rose,  holding  out  her 
hand  in  quite  friendly  greeting. 


Florida  Alexander 

"I  am  very  much  afraid  that  he  did," 
answered  St.  John,  meekly,  taking  the 
rustic  chair  she  offered. 

"But  you  should  appreciate  the  dis 
crimination  he  makes  in  your  favor.  Per 
haps  you  do  not  know  that  you  belong 
to  a  most  despised  guild?" 

"Oh,  yes,"  he  replied,  "I  do  know.  I 
have  known  it  for  some  time." 

"Then  you  have  been  made  to  realize 
that  it  is  no  light  matter  to  answer  to  the 
offense  of  being  a  modern  author.  How 
ever,  he  seems  ready  to  allow  you  a  spe 
cial  dispensation." 

With  seeming  carelessness  her  hand 
sought  the  book  she  had  been  reading, 
thrusting  it  more  securely  out  of  sight 
among  the  folds  of  her  shawl,  which  had 
dropped  from  her  shoulders. 

"I  am  never  quite  able  to  decide," 
continued  she,  "which  he  holds  in  the 
greater  contempt,  the  writers  of  most  of 
our  recent  literature,  or  the  readers ;  and 
to  read,  therefore,  what  is  written  is  ac 
cording  to  him  to  become  a  particeps 
103 


Florida  Alexander 

criminis,  without  even  the  poor  excuse 
in  one's  favor  of  winning  a  livelihood 
thereby. 

"Oh,  as  to  the  livelihood '  put  in 

St.  John,  with  a  laugh  and  a  shrug  of  his 
shoulders. 

But  she  went  on  in  the  same  light  tone, 
throwing  a  playful,  lustrous  glance  to 
ward  him,  and  lending  herself  in  a  kind 
of  reckless  abandon  to  the  first  subject 
that  offered: 

"In  our  efforts  to  extricate  a  thought 
out  of  much  that  is  written,  he  says  that 
we  remind  him  of  a  lot  of  hungry  dogs 
snatching  at  a  bone  withheld  always  by  a 
teasing  hand ;  and  that,  if  by  especial 
dexterity  one  of  us  succeeds,  or  thinks 
he  succeeds,  in  grasping  the  thought — 
that  is,  the  bone — we  generally  find  to 
our  mortification  on  closer  scrutiny  that 
it  is  not  really  a  bone  after  all,  but  only  a 
pithless  piece  of  painted  chalk." 

St.  John's  smiling  appreciation  of  this 
was  a  base  disloyalty   to   the  "despised 
guild"  and  to  his  own  convictions. 
104 


Florida  Alexander 

"We  should  at  least  be  grateful  for  our 
illusions,"  he  said,  unable  to  conceal  in 
his  expression  the  delight  that  her  pres 
ence  afforded. 

The  wind  stirred  the  tendrils  of  polished 
brown  hair  drawn  smoothly  back  from  her 
low  brow.  What  a  picture  she  was!  all 
grace  and  fire  and  womanliness,  with  that 
touch  of  airy  raillery  to-day  that  had  here 
tofore  been  lacking.  He  was  grateful  for 
that ;  it  made  him  feel  as  if  they  were  be 
coming  a  little  better  acquainted,  as  if  one 
tiny  corner  of  the  veil  had  been  lifted  and 
she  was  peering  out  at  him  with  amused 
interest. 

"He  may  be  quite  right  about  it,"  the 
rich  voice  persisted,  in  evident  enjoyment 
of  the  subject,  "so  far  as  regards  fiction, 
that  is,"  with  a  mocking  little  smile  and 
a  nod,  "that  old  romantic  school  of  his 
is  certainly  delightful.  And  there  is  so 
much  in  this  modern  realism  that  revolts. 
It  is  difficult  to  say  just  wherein  our 
artists  blunder." 

"I  think,"  replied  St.  John,  quite  seri- 


Florida  Alexander 

ously,  the  teacher  habit  asserting  itself 
for  the  moment,  with  a  certain  inherent 
force  that  usually  characterized  his  speech, 
"I  think  the  blunder  comes  mainly  from 
the  fact  that  so  many  novelists  fail  to 
recognize,  or  refuse  to  recognize,  one 
thing:  simply  that  the  ideal  is  the  real." 

She  smiled  a  little  at  his  unconsciously 
didactic  tone,  her  thoughts  wandering 
away  to  his  own  pure  verse — a  lofty, 
impassioned  tribute  to  the  Ideal,  as 
expressed  in  nature  and  in  humanity, 
before  whose  shrine  he  continually  wor 
shiped. 

"It  is  necessary  to  keep  this  before  one 
always,"  he  insisted,  "as  well  as  that 
other  truth  that  a  perfect  art  must  in 
volve  a  perfect  morality." 

The  breeze  swept  some  rose  leaves  to 
her  from  a  near  trellis.  She  smoothed 
the  delicate  petals  against  her  pink  palm 
for  a  moment  reflectively.  When  she 
lifted  her  head  her  manner  was  subdued, 
totally  altered. 

"But  those  works  that  exercise  the 
106 


Florida  Alexander 

greatest  influence  over  our  subsequent 
actions  are  usually  such  as  we  feel  no  dis 
position  to  analyze.  They  may  or  may 
not  reach  the  true  standard,  and  seem  to 
come  as  by  a  mere  accident  into  our 
lives,  like  a  flower  wafted  to  the  feet." 

"Ah,  that  is  undoubtedly  true,"  he 
assented,  with  comprehension. 

"And  the  mood,  the  peculiar  state  of 
mind,  that  means  so  much." 

"So  much." 

Her  expression  had  returned  to  its  old 
sadness,  and  it  was  evident  that  through 
the  trend  of  ideas  some  deep  undercurrent 
of  feeling  had  been  stirred.  Her  voice 
sank  lower,  faltered,  broke.  She  seemed 
suddenly  to  have  become  wearied  and 
cold;  but  she  did  not  draw  her  shawl 
about  her.  When  she  spoke  again,  it 
was  as  if,  swept  on  by  an  impetuous  im 
pulse,  she  was  allowing  him  to  know  her 
inmost  thoughts  in  a  kind  of  sub-con 
sciousness  of  his  presence. 

"Once  a  book  came  into  my  hands,  by 
chance,  as  I  then  thought,"  she  said,  in 
107 


Florida  Alexander 

low,  hurried  tones.  "It  was  at  a  time  in 
my  life  of  responsibility  and  uncertainty 
and  sleepless  pain.  One  day  I  entered 
a  shop  in  New  York,  and  of  the  new 
books  that  were  handed  out  to  me  I 
bought  one  at  random,  yet  feeling  in  some 
vague  way  that  it  would  contain  a  mes 
sage  for  me.  But  having  taken  it  home, 
the  mood  to  read  passed.  For  weeks  it 
lay  on  my  table,  inviting  me  to  open  it, 
until  I  finally  grew  nervous  under  its 
silent  entreaty.  One  especially  dark  day 
I  took  it  up.  I  read  on  and  on  for  hours. 
The  thoughts  in  it  burned  into  my  brain 
and  heart.  They  seemed  to  hold  out  the 
possibility  of  an  existence  purer  and  more 
spiritual,  through  a  higher  consecration 
to  truth,  than  I  had  ever  dreamed  of. 
Long  passages,  entire  pages  even,  clung 
to  me,  until  my  whole  being  was  steeped 
in  the  delicate  subtleties  of  the  ideal  inter 
pretation — the  interpretation  of  the  poet, 
it  is  true,  yet  of  the  man  also,  cognizant 
of  all  human  weakness  and  resisting  it 
with  his  utmost  strength.  There  was 
108 


Florida  Alexander 

something  god-like  in  that  clear  flute- 
note.  And  there  came  a  time  when  the 
exalted  standard  that  had  been  offered 
seemed  beckoning  to  me  always.  I  was 
no  longer  tempted.  The  way  was  plain. 
I  thought — I  thought  I  did  what  was 
right.  Who  can  ever  know?  The  book 
decided  my  destiny  for  me,  that  is  all." 

A  convulsive  shudder  swept  over  her, 
and  a  smoldering  fire  burned  in  the  dark 
eyes.  She  added  quickly:  "At  no 
other  moment  of  my  life  could  this  book 
have  made  anything  approaching  the  im 
pression  that  it  did.  Perhaps  it  was  all  a 
mere  superstitious  fancy.  But  when  I 
went  abroad  I  took  it  with  me ;  I  had 
been  reading  it  again  this  morning  when 
you  came." 

St.  John's  eyes  wandered  involuntarily 
in  the  direction  of  where  the  book  lay 
concealed.  He  was  silent,  mystified, 
saddened.  He  looked  instantly  away 
again,  beyond  the  roses  and  fruit-trees 
and  flowering  shrubs,  to  where  a  fountain 
splashed  in  the  sunlight.  Presently  she 
109 


Florida  Alexander 

turned  her  face  to  him,  pale,  but  per 
fectly  controlled.  Her  lips  parted  in  a 
conventional  smile. 

"You  must  like  it  here — this  pretty 
old-time  garden,"  she  said,  rather  for 
mally.  "I  am  so  glad  that  you  should 
have  seen  it  on  such  a  day." 

He  looked  at  her  thoughtfully  for  a 
moment.  "It  is  beautiful — very  beauti 
ful,"  he  replied,  gravely. 

She  shrank  a  little  from  the  pitying 
tenderness  in  his  eyes. 

"I  am  like  Walther  von  der  Vogel- 
weide,"  she  said.  "Do  you  not  hate 
it,  too,  the  long  winter?  I  love  him  for 
all  the  hard  things  he  has  said  of  it — for 
the  birds  and  me." 

"But  even  Walther  forgave  one  winter 
of  his  life — the  winter  of  his  happiness. 
I  can  understand  that." 

"Walther  was  a  mediaeval  poet." 

"Every  man  is  a  poet  that  loves  a 
woman." 

He  had  risen,  and  was  looking  down 
upon  her  where  she  sat,  his  face  lighted 


Florida  Alexander 

with  a  sudden  flame,  and  transformed  with 
a  new  and  sacred  beauty.  She  reached 
nervously  backward  for  her  shawl,  avoid 
ing  his  glance,  and  in  so  doing  the  book 
she  had  been  reading,  being  entangled, 
fell  heavily  to  the  ground,  as  suddenly 
she  rose. 

He  leaned  down  to  restore  it,  and  she 
uttered  a  cry  of  protest,  putting  forth  a 
swift,  restraining  hand.  But  she  was  too 
late.  She  drew  back,  white  and  trem 
bling,  something  like  terror  creeping  into 
her  expression,  while  in  a  kind  of  trance- 
like,  fascinated  gaze  she  watched  his  alert 
movement. 

As  his  glance  fell  upon  the  cover,  he 
started,  caught  in  his  breath,  and  a  hot 
flush  mounted  to  his  brow.  He  turned 
quickly  toward  her,  and  their  eyes  met 
— hers  baffled  and  confused,  his  savagely 
triumphant. 

The  book  was  a  copy  of  his  own  verse. 


VIII 

With  a  zeal  that  was  highly  commend 
able,  if  somewhat  inconvenient,  to  his  fu 
ture  instructress,  Tim  early  presented 
himself  on  the  afternoon  that  was  to 
mark  a  strange  turning  in  the  existence 
of  this  hitherto  neglected  little  savage. 
He  was  fully  three-quarters  of  an  hour  in 
advance  of  the  time  that  had  been  agreed 
upon,  and  Miss  Alexander,  who  had  been 
roused  from  her  nap  by  the  reverberating 
peal  of  his  impetuous  pull  upon  the  door 
bell,  was  compelled  to  keep  him  waiting 
some  little  while  before  she  was  able  to 
appear. 

In  sympathetic  comprehension  of  the 
child  nature,  she  proceeded  to  array  her 
self  at  once  in  one  of  her  prettiest  cos 
tumes  for  the  occasion,  a  tea-gown  of 
peach-blossom  colored  China  silk;  and 


Florida  Alexander 

she  stood  for  a  moment  smiling  gleefully 
back  at  her  reflection  in  the  long  mirror 
of  her  bedroom  after  she  was  dressed. 

When  she  finally  went  below,  she  found 
a  small  young  person  in  the  far  end  of 
the  room  looking  decidedly  abashed  and 
uncomfortable.  He  was  seated  stiffly 
upon  one  of  the  gilt  chairs,  and  his  little 
bare  legs  were  twisting  and  untwisting 
themselves  about  the  rounds  in  a  manner 
calculated  to  arouse  a  sensation  of  ner 
vousness  in  the  most  phlegmatic.  All  his 
pertness  of  expression  had  disappeared, 
and  a  look  of  wide-eyed  seriousness  had 
so  transformed  the  piquant  countenance 
that  for  a  moment  Florida  stood  amazed. 
She  was  furthermore  touched  by  the 
child's  pathetic  efforts  at  adornment  as 
displayed  in  a  cheap  crimson  necktie, 
long  past  its  pristine  freshness,  and  a 
dilapidated  straw  hat,  many  times  too 
large,  set  rakishly  back  on  the  pretty  curly 
head.  Perhaps  she  would  have  felt  the 
appeal  even  more  had  she  known,  which 
she  did  not,  that  to  obtain  at  second  hand 
"3 


Florida  Alexander 

these  polite  adjuncts  to  his  toilet  he  had 
found  it  necessary  to  sacrifice  three  agates, 
a  kite  and  his  well-beloved  knife.  Above 
all,  his  face  and  hands  were  so  alarmingly 
clean,  it  was  impossible  not  to  experience 
a  certain  uneasiness  on  witnessing  such  a 
sudden  and  complete  reform. 

"Tim,"  she  exclaimed,  heartily,  "I  am 
delighted  to  see  you,"  taking  the  chair 
at  the  boy's  side,  and  bestowing  one  of 
her  slow,  beautiful  smiles  upon  him,  a 
smile  that  seemed  to  suggest  the  sunshine 
and  fruit  and  .  flowers  and  all  lovely 
things  to  the  little  fellow,  for  he  gazed 
dumbly  into  her  face  in  a  kind  of  rapt, 
bewildered  intoxication.  "Did  you  have 
any  trouble  in  finding  the  place?"  she 
asked.  "There  is  another  house  some 
thing  like  this  farther  down  the  street." 

Tim  appeared  to  be  slowly  recovering 
the  power  of  speech.  He  suddenly 
straightened  himself  in  his  chair,  gave  an 
odd  little  jerk  to  his  shoulders,  and  broke 
forth  with  the  air  of  one  about  to  relate 
some  thrilling  and  daring  experience. 
u4 


Florida  Alexander 

"Never  had  no  trouble  'tall,"  he  de 
clared,  breathlessly.  "Jest  corned  right 
along,  an'  walked  up  all  them  steps,  an' 
rung  the  doo'-bell  hard  ez  I  could,  an' 
that  gentleman  he  corned  an'  let  me  in, 
an'  I  jest  walked  right  in  an'  sot  down  in 
one  them  gold  chairs,  an'- 

"A  gentleman,  Tim?"  inquired  Miss 
Alexander,  rather  puzzled. 

"Colored  gentleman,"  remarked  Tim, 
with  a  nod,  thus  incontestably  proving 
that  the  blood  of  no  slave-holding  ances 
tor  flowed  in  his  veins. 

"Oh,  I  see,"  replied  Miss  Alexander, 
amused.  "It  was  Uncle  Abram.  And 
now  I  am  so  glad  that  we  have  made  a 
beginning.  Tim,  dear,  there  is  so  much 
in  making  a  beginning.  I  hope  I  am 
going  to  make  you  see  that  quite  clearly, 
as  well  as  so  many  other  things.  But  I 
don't  think  I  shall  try  to  teach  you  very 
much  to-day.  We  will  just  talk  a  little 
together  and  get  acquainted.  And  in 
the  first  place  I  want  to  ask  you  what  do 
you  think  is  the  reason  why  I  so  much 
"5 


Florida  Alexander 

wish  you  to  study  music,  and  have 
brought  you  here?" 

Tim's  face  grew  thoughtful.  He  leaned 
his  elbows  on  his  knees,  and  rested  his 
chin  in  his  hands.  He  seemed  to  be  of 
the  opinion  that  much  depended  upon 
the  answer  he  should  make. 

"Give  it  up,"  he  said  at  length,  deject 
edly,  raising  his  head. 

"Tim,  I  will  tell  you,"  Miss  Alexander 
resumed,  touching  one  of  the  crisp  brown 
curls  with  a  caressing  movement  and  smil 
ing  still,  in  a  kind  of  playful  earnestness. 
"It  is  because  you  are  one  of  those  rare 
beings  that  help  to  flood  this  strange  old 
world  with  light — in  other  words,  you  are 
a  genius,  Tim,  and  in  my  humble  way  I 
should  like  to  fire  the  torch  and  assist  in 
feeding  the  sacred  flame.  O  Timothy," 
twisting  the  shining  band  of  hair  about 
her  finger,  "little  dost  thou  dream  what 
the  gods  shall  yet  require  of  thee." 

Being  as  indifferent  as  one  could  be 
to  the  gift  and  nature  of  genius,  and  find 
ing  the  new  possession  rather  uncomfort- 
116 


Florida  Alexander 

able  on  the  whole,  Tim  maintained  an 
embarrassed  silence.  There  was  one 
and  only  one  part  of  the  remark  that 
had  the  smallest  interest  or  meaning  for 
him ;  as  his  ear  caught  the  word  feed,  he 
looked  quickly  up  with  a  wink  of  appre 
ciation,  and  Florida  went  on : 

"It  is  the  people  that  sing  as  you  will 
one  day,  dear,  that  bear  a  most  beautiful 
message  to  others.  And  I  had  the  feel 
ing,  Tim,  that  as  I  have  failed  so  sadly  to 
do  many  of  the  kind  and  helpful  things 
I  had  meant  to  do,  perhaps  some  time 
after  a  great  while  you  would  speak  for 
me,  and  so  in  this  way  that  I  would  be 
no  longer  altogether  dumb." 

Tim's  eyes  began  to  wander  about  the 
room  with  eager  curiosity.  At  this  mo 
ment  a  servant  entered  and  deposited  a 
salver  laden  with  eatables  on  a  table 
near  by.  Miss  Alexander  rose.  "Here 
are  strawberries  and  buttered  biscuits  for 
you,  Tim,"  she  cried,  bending  above  the 
tray.  "Do  you  like  strawberries  and 
buttered  biscuits?" 

117 


Florida  Alexander 

Tim  was  speechless  with  anticipation. 

"And  while  you  are  eating  them,"  she 
went  on,  gayly,  "I  will  tell  you  a  story 
of  the  time  that  is  to  come  when  you 
shall  be  a  grown  man,  and  the  people  will 
gather  from  far  and  near  to  hear  you  sing, 
and  you  will  sing  in  the  great  operas,  and 
perhaps  you  will  be  the  mighty  Siegfried 
himself,  'the  far-renowned  knight' ;  and  I 
think  I  will  tell  you  the  story  of  Siegfried 
while  you  are  eating  your  strawberries. 
But  when  you  sing  in  the  great  opera  the 
story  will  not  be  precisely  as  I  tell  it  to 
you  now;  it  will  be  something  like  it." 

"Huccum  't  won't?"  inquired  Tim,  in 
one  of  his  lapses  into  the  negro  dialect, 
arresting  himself  in  the  act  of  devouring 
an  enormous  strawberry,  and  slowly  turn 
ing  his  eyes  toward  her. 

"Oh,  because  it  won't,  Tim;  never 
mind  about  that.  Now,  I'm  going  to 
begin.  Long,  long  ago,  far  away  over 
the  seas,  in  a  beautiful  castle  on  the  Rhine, 
there  lived  a  mighty  prince  whose  name 
was  Siegfried.  And  this  Siegfried  was 
118 


Florida  Alexander 

so  strong,  so  very,  very  strong,  there  was 
no  one  in  all  the  whole  wide  world  that 
was  a  match  for  him,  nor  were  there  any 
wild  beasts  in  the  dark  forests  that  he 
was  afraid  of  in  the  least.  And  one  day 
alone  on  the  mountain  he  killed  the  ter 
rible  dragon,  and  bathed  himself  in  the 
blood,  and ' ' 

Tim  suddenly  interrupted  the  narrative. 
Raising  his  small  form  with  a  gesture  of 
infinite  pride,  he  announced  with  flushed 
cheeks  and  flashing  eyes: 

''I  ain't  afeard  o'  nobody,  an'  I  ain't 
afeard  o'  nothin* ." 

Florida  caught  herself  up  with  a  start, 
realizing  the  drift  of  the  story. 

"No,  Tim,  no,  of  course  not;  of  course 
you  are  not  afraid,"  she  said,  rather  ner 
vously  and  hastily.  "But  you  see  the 
days  in  which  the  Prince  Siegfried  lived 
were  very  different  days  from  our  days, 
and  what  was  courage  in  him  might  not  be 
courage  in  one  of  us  at  all." 

"Can't  never  let  no  nother  boy  jump 
on  me." 

119 


Florida  Alexander 

"But  for  us  it  is  courage  not  to  fight — 
for  us  Kentuckians,"  Florida  insisted, 
feeling  that  she  had  been  rather  unfortun 
ate  in  her  selection. 

"Can't  never  let  no  nother  boy  jump 
on  me,"  Tim  stoutly  maintained,  by  no 
means  converted. 

Miss  Alexander  looked  disturbed  ;  then 
a  whimsical  smile  broke  over  her  face, 
and  she  let  her  hands  fall  helplessly  into 
her  lap. 

"Oh,  Tim,  Tim!"  she  exclaimed,  with 
a  laugh;  "what  a  true  son  of  Kentucky 
you  are!" 

But  all  at  once  her  manner  grew  grave 
and  sweet. 

"Tim,  dear,"  she  said  at  length, "how 
am  I  ever  going  to  make  you  see  certain 
things,  when  your  elders  and  your  betters 
set  you  the  example  that  they  do?" 

Her  glance  wandered  away  from  the 
child,  through  the  open  window,  far  into 
the  distance,  until  it  reached  the  place 
out  on  the  lawn  where  she  and  St.  John 
had  sat  the  day  before.  She  was  think- 


Florida  Alexander 

ing  of  the  explanation  he  had  once  offered 
of  the  fiery  disposition  of  the  Kentuckians. 
This  he  traced  back  to  certain  hereditary 
influences,  holding  that  the  spirit  of  re 
sistance,  essential  to  their  forefathers — 
shut  in  as  were  the  latter  by  the  great 
wall  of  mountains  on  the  one  side  and  the 
waters  on  the  other — while  they  struggled 
with  the  infuriated  savages,  had  been 
transmitted,  and  that,  naturally,  a  people 
accustomed  to  long  years  of  such  warfare 
would  grow  to  look  with  less  horror  upon 
bloodshed  than  would  others  the  condi 
tions  of  whose  development  had  been  of 
a  more  peaceful  character. 

She  recalled  his  manner,  earnest, 
thoughtful,  judicial,  kindly — the  varying 
expression  in  his  deep  blue  eyes.  She 
had  thought  them  rather  remarkable  eyes. 
The  entire  impression  came  back  to  her, 
especially  the  feeling  she  had  had  once 
while  he  was  speaking:  the  vivid  realiza 
tion  that  he  unconsciously  gave  her  of  his 
own  intense  self-mastery,  of  his  grasp 
upon  the  thought  that  the  true  fight  is 


Florida  Alexander 

within.  And  in  sharp  contradistinction 
there  flashed  now,  as  then,  before  her 
mind's  eye,  another  face,  a  bold,  reckless, 
handsome  face,  startling  her  by  the  force 
of  the  antithesis.  Launcelot  and  Galahad  ! 
Half- forgetful  of  the  boy's  presence,  she 
went  softly  over  the  lines  that  had  begun 
to  hold  a  certain  association  in  her 
thoughts: 

"  My  good  blade  carves  the  casques  of  men, 

My  tough  lance  thrusteth  sure, 
My  strength  is  as  the  strength  of  ten, 
Because  my  heart  is  pure." 

Her  eyes,  presently  traveling  slowly 
back  to  her  well-contented  little  guest, 
rested  upon  an  empty  plate;  there  was 
absolutely  not  a  crumb  left,  and  she  had 
ordered,  she  thought,  an  absurdly  bounti 
ful  supply. 

"Were  you  really  so  hungry,  Tim?" 
she  asked,  gently. 

"Was  right  smart  hongry,"  was  the 
reply. 

"Do  you  think  you  could  eat  anything 
more?"  she  hinted,  not  without  some 


Florida  Alexander 

inward  misgivings  as  to  the  advisability 
of  the  proposition. 

Tim  hesitated.  "Ef  I  wuz  to  stan'  up 
an'  go  right  slow — I  think  I  mought,"  he 
finally  confessed. 

"I  dare  not,  Tim,  I  dare  not,"  Miss 
Alexander  hastened  to  protest.  "You 
surely  would  be  ill.  How  long  has  it 
been  since  you  had  anything  to  eat?" 

"Sence  las'  night." 

"Last  night!  Are  you  often  hungry 
— hungry  as  you  were  to-day?"  Her 
face  had  grown  very  pitiful  as  she  bent 
above  him. 

"Offen  'nough,"  he  answered,  briefly, 
drawing  back  a  little  from  her  caress. 
Presently  he  fixed  his  eyes  intently  upon 
her.  "How  many  people  could  you 
feed?"  he  demanded  most  seriously. 

"How  many?  Oh,  I  don't  know, 
Tim;  I  never  thought  of  it.  Why  do 
you  ask?" 

"Could  you  feed  five  thousand?"  sug 
gested  Tim. 

"Five  thousand,  Tim?  I  should  never 
123 


Florida  Alexander 

think  of  attempting  such  a  thing.  The 
idea  is  quite  appalling.  What  do  you 
mean?" 

Tim  was  silent  a  moment,  and  then 
proceeded  with  much  impressiveness. 

"I  hearn  that  somebody  did  oncet,"  he 
declared.      "With  five  loaves  an' — an' 
— speaking  with  careful  precision — ' '  with 
five  loaves  an    tivo  small  fishes." 

"Oh,  but  that  was  a  miracle,  Tim," 
responded  Florida,  reverently.  "I  did 
not  understand  at  first  what  you  meant." 

Tim's  eyes  were  still  fixed  in  a  solemn 
interrogation  upon  her  face.  After  a 
long  pause,  with  the  same  soberness  of 
demeanor,  "That  never  could  ha'  been," 
he  asserted  positively. 

"It  is  all  quite  true,  Tim,"  Florida 
answered  with  equal  firmness.  "It  is 
none  the  less  true  because  you  cannot 
understand." 

Tim  regarded  her  with  the  regretful 
look  of  one  who  sees  his  idol  about  to 
crumble  at  his  feet.  He  was  evidently 


124 


Florida  Alexander 

finding  it  rather  difficult  to  comprehend 
that  there  could  be  such  a  thing  as  a  sim 
ilarity  of  teaching  between  the  despised 
"long-nosed  one,"  and  this  beautiful,  re 
splendent  creature  who  thrilled  his  little 
pagan  heart  with  something  nearer  akin 
to  a  feeling  of  worship  than  he  had  ever 
known. 

"All  I  got  to  say  then,"  he  said,  at 
length,  weakening  in  some  small  degree 
in  his  position,  "they  must  ha'  had  a 
mighty  little  bit." 

Florida  reached  forth  an  arm  and  drew 
the  child  closer  to  her.  A  great  wave  of 
tenderness,  of  compassion,  of  she  scarce 
knew  what,  seemed  to  sweep  over  her, 
and  to  lend  to  her  words  a  simple,  direct 
beauty.  In  a  low  voice  she  began, 
smoothing  with  gentle  touch  the  small 
brown  head  resting  at  her  side  as  she  told 
in  language  that  he  could  understand 
the  meaning  of  the  heavenly  bread,  the 
mystery  of  the  "meat  which  endureth 
unto  everlasting  life. ' '  And  as  she  spoke, 


125 


Florida  Alexander 

the  shadows  on  the  lawn  grew  deeper, 
and  the  sweet  flower-laden  air  stole  in 
through  the  windows,  and  the  drowsy 
hum  of  insects  kept  up  a  pleasant  mono 
tone,  until  the  little  fellow  felt  a  strange 
new  sense  of  peace,  his  violet  eyes  open 
ing  and  closing  in  a  pretty,  dreamy  sort 
of  way. 

"And  so,  dear,"  she  said,  at  last,  and 
there  was  the  throb  of  some  inward  pain 
in  the  quiet  voice,  "there  are  two  things 
for  us  never  to  forget:  to  keep  our  own 
hearts  pure,  so  that  we  may  not  choose 
the  low  things  of  the  earth,  and  thus  bring 
sorrow  upon  ourselves  for  all  our  days ;  and 
to  try  to  be  ready  to  give  the  true  bread 
to  others.  There  will  be  always  many 
hungry  ones.  And  though  we  cannot  see 
the  Kind  Shepherd,  as  did  the  five  thou 
sand,  and  sometimes  in  our  grief  and 
blindness  we  may  doubt  His  goodness 
even — it  is  so  hard  to  see  the  dear  God's 
face  through  our  tears — we  know  that  as 
He  was  sorry  for  them,  He  is  sorry  now 
for  us,  and  does  not  wish  that  there 
126 


Florida  Alexander 

should    be  any  hungry  ones,   or  discour 
aged,  or  sad." 

The  child  suddenly  raised  himself  and 
looked  her  long  in  the  face.  "You  looks 
jest  like  er  angel  when  you  talks  like 
that,"  he  cried. 


127 


IX 

On  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  not  far 
from  the  line  of  the  street  railway,  there 
was  a  dim  old  wood,  almost  as  mysteri 
ous  and  as  beautiful  and  as  wildly  som 
ber  as  were  the  first  Kentucky  forests  that 
broke  upon  the  enraptured  gaze  of  the 
pioneers.  The  place  bore  an  air  of  neg 
lect,  but  a  neglect  altogether  delightful  in 
its  picturesqueness,  being  enclosed  by  a 
vine-covered  wall,  crumbling  here  and 
there,  and  affording  to  the  wearied  trav 
eler  of  the  roadside  such  delicious  glimpses 
of  cool  retreats,  such  revelations  in  the 
way  of  light  and  shade,  undulation  and 
color  as  to  send  him  on  his  way  refreshed, 
the  redolence  of  the  rank  vegetation 
steeping  his  senses  into  happy  forgetful- 
ness  of  heat  and  dust  and  blinding  path. 
St.  John  particularly  delighted  in  the 
128 


Florida  Alexander 

spot,  and  when  the  warm  June  days  cut 
short  his  longer  rambles  into  the  country, 
almost  every  afternoon  found  him  here, 
sometimes  with  notebook  and  pencil,  as 
often  without,  giving  himself  wholly  up 
to  a  profound  and  intimate  communion, 
which,  when  he  afterward  went  to  his 
work,  seemed  in  effect  to  breathe  itself 
into  his  writings,  lending  to  them  some 
thing  of  the  uplifting  power  of  nature 
itself. 

But  recently  his  thoughts  and  the  ex 
pression  of  them  had  taken  an  unaccus 
tomed  turn ;  there  had  crept  into  his 
verses  a  more  distinctly  human  note,  as  if 
his  heart,  hitherto  closed  to  one  feature 
of  the  emotions  in  an  intensity  of  reserve, 
were  now  expanding  under  a  sudden 
warmth.  It  was  with  a  quaint  simplicity 
that  he  yielded  himself  to  the  new  influ 
ence.  Self-centered,  perhaps,  because 
of  an  over-zealous  vigilance,  loyal  to 
others,  because  true  first  to  himself, 
through  this  sway  his  nature  seemed 
likely  to  attain  an  elasticity  which  for- 
129 


Florida  Alexander 

merly  it  had  lacked ;  for  it  is  in  experi 
ence  and  fulfillment  that  such  a  tempera 
ment  reaches  its  height  of  development. 
And  the  difficult  standard  toward  which 
he  continually  strove,  the  stature  of  the 
ideal  man,  had  been  complemented  al 
ways  by  another  standard — poetic,  allur 
ing,  passionately  pure — the  stature  of  the 
ideal  woman,  before  whose  shadowy  im 
age  he  worshiped  with  something  of  the 
same  fierce  and  enduring  tenderness  which 
of  old  Arthur  enjoined  upon  his  knights. 

Two  weeks  had  passed  since  that  morn 
ing  among  the  flowers,  when  he  had  felt 
that  a  new  day  was  dawning  for  him. 
Though  he  had  called  repeatedly  since 
that  time  he  had  not  seen  Miss  Alexander 
once.  It  was  characteristic  of  him  that 
he  did  not  attribute  this  circumstance  to 
any  impulse  of  coquetry  in  her,  but  con 
tinued  to  wait  in  calm  trustfulness  and 
patience  for  what  he  none  the  less  ar 
dently  desired,  though  outwardly  the 
longing  was  repressed. 

When  he  did  see  her  again,  he  came 
130 


Florida  Alexander 

upon  her  suddenly  and  quite  by  accident, 
finding  her  one  afternoon  in  the  depths 
of  his  favorite  woods.  She  was  seated 
on  an  old  moss-covered  log,  and  she 
wore  a  green  wool  gown  and  green  straw 
hat,  the  colors  melting  so  harmoniously 
into  those  about  her  that  he  was  not  con 
scious  of  her  presence  until  he  had  drawn 
quite  near.  However,  she  recognized 
him  some  moments  before  he  saw  her. 
He  was  walking  slowly,  absorbed  in 
thought,  for  to-day  there  had  come  a  dis 
turbing  echo  from  the  outside  world;  but 
at  sight  of  her  he  uttered  an  exclamation 
of  joyful  surprise. 

"Ah,  what  an  unexpected  pleasure  to 
find  you  here!"  he  cried,  coming  quickly 
to  her,  a  swift  gleam  lighting  his  dark 
face. 

She  returned  his  gaze  in  silence,  smil 
ing  up  at  him  in  quiet  greeting.  For  a 
moment  there  was  a  responsive  flash  in 
her  eyes,  but  it  changed  instantly  into  an 
expression  of  merely  friendly  inquiry. 
With  an  air  of  proprietorship  in  her  sur- 


Florida  Alexander 

roundings  which  he  found  rather  amus 
ing  in  view  of  what  he  considered  his  own 
claims  of  possession,  she  made  a  place  for 
him  at  her  side. 

"You  cant  know  how  glad  I  am  to  find 
you  here!"  he  repeated,  warmly. 

She  slowly  turned  her  face  toward  him, 
and  smiled  again,  this  time  in  a  rather 
uncertain  fashion. 

"I  am  often  here,  when  at  home  at 
this  time  of  the  year,"  she  replied.  "But 
I  come  generally  in  the  morning,  quite 
early."  She  smoothed  her  glove,  reflec 
tively,  between  her  fingers.  "It  is  beau 
tiful  here  at  all  times,  but  it  is  especially 
beautiful  in  the  morning,  quite  early," 
she  said. 

"At  this  moment  it  is  perfect,"  an 
swered  St.  John,  simply  and  fervently, 
adding  with  an  effort  at  lightness :  ' '  Here, 
I  am  among  my  friends;  in  June,  with 
Lowell,  I  am  always  ready  to  count  'a 
tree  among  my  far  progenitors.' 

"Are  you,  too,  often  in  these  woods?" 
inquired  Florida. 

132 


Florida  Alexander 

"Very  often.  I  doubt  if  the  man  that 
owns  them  does  really  own  them  after  all. 
Some  time  I  should  like  to  compare  notes 
and  find  out  whether  his  pastures  have 
ever  yielded  him  as  much  as  they  have 
yielded  me." 

"You  will  have  to  ask  her,  not  him; 
the  land  is  owned  by  a  woman,  and  if  you 
ask  her,  and  she  is  truthful,  she  will  cer 
tainly  answer  no." 

"Why  do  you  make  so  sure  of  that?" 

"Because  I  accept  Plato's  definition  of 
a  poet  as  'a  light  and  winged  and  holy 
thing;'  the  woman  that  owns  this  land  is 
not  a  poet."  She  looked  away,  in  the 
direction  of  the  large  red-brick  structure 
in  the  distance,  with  a  dreamy,  intent  ex 
pression  in  her  eyes. 

"The  place  has  quite  an  ancient  and 
historic  suggestion,"  he  said,  following 
her  glance.  "But  in  Kentucky  one 
never  knows  when  he  is  upon  sacred  soil. 
Did  I  ever  tell  you  of  my  Boonesborough 
experience?" 

There  was  a  ring  in  his  voice  of  such 
i33 


Florida  Alexander 

genuine  joy  in  her  presence,  she  avoided 
meeting  his  eyes.  She  shook  her  head, 
and  he  went  on  : 

"In  some  way  I  had  an  incorrect  idea; 
I  was  under  the  impression  that  Bcones- 
borough  was  a  large  and  thriving  town. 
I  especially  wished  to  see  the  site  of  the 
old  fort.  One  day  last  summer,  when  in 
my  boat  on  the  Kentucky  River,  knowing 
that  I  was  somewhere  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  the  place,  I  called  to  a  man  who 
was  ploughing  on  the  hillside,  and  asked 
him  to  tell  me  how  far  I  was  from  Boones- 
borough.  The  man  regarded  me  stolidly 
for  a  moment,  and  then  said : 

;  'Stranger,  ef  ye'll  git  out  o'  thet 
thar  boat,  an'  roll  up  them  thar  pants, 
ye'll  be  knee-deep  in  Boonesborough 
now.' 

Florida  laughed.  "At  present  you  are 
knee-deep  in  nothing  more  notable  than 
the  far-famed  bluegrass,"  she  responded. 
"The  house  is  not  very  old."  Then  she 
supplemented  in  a  softened  voice:  "It 
was  my  mother's  girlhood  home.  From 
134 


Florida  Alexander 

a  child  I  have  haunted  the  spot.  Did 
not  the  birds  tell  you?" 

He  turned  and  looked  her  quickly  in 
the  eyes. 

"I  can  well  believe  now  that  they 
did,"  he  said,  quite  earnestly,  at  length. 

She  flushed  a  little  under  his  serious 
gaze,  and  hurried  on.  "The  place  has 
been  for  six  months  without  a  tenant,  but 
I  shall  rent  it  again  in  the  autumn,  I 
think.  I  so  much  dislike  the  idea  of  any 
one  living  in  it,  and  it  is  only  stern  neces 
sity  that  ever  drives  me  to  consider  it.  I 
have  always  a  feeling  that  whatever  of 
work  and  change  existence  may  hold 
for  me,  some  time  I  myself  shall  surely 
live  in  it ;  and  I  find  my  thoughts  contin 
ually  traveling  onward  to  the  time  when, 
at  the  end  of  life,  I  shall  come  back  here 
and  take  up  my  abode  with  only  my 
silent  companions — the  ghosts  of  other 
days." 

He  was  still  looking  steadily  at  her, 
touched  not  so  much  by  her  words,  which 
were  spoken  lightly  enough,  but  by  that 
'35 


Florida  Alexander 

undercurrent  of  pain  which  so  often  crept 
into  her  voice,  and  which  her  careless 
speech  could  not  conceal.  Her  swift 
perception  must  have  made  her  conscious 
of  his  pity,  for  in  the  next  moment  she 
strove  to  direct  the  conversation  from 
herself. 

"Were  you  composing  a  sonnet  when 
you  discovered  me?"  she  inquired,  cheer 
fully. 

His  expression  underwent  a  sudden 
change.  His  face  clouded,  and  he  passed 
his  hand  wearily  across  his  brow,  as  if  re 
calling  a  disturbing  thought,  which,  for 
the  time,  had  been  expelled  by  a  happy 
interruption. 

"No — no — it  was  not  a  sonnet,"  he 
answered,  absently.  "The  fact  is,  I  was 
not  thinking  of  my  work."  He  was 
silent  a  moment,  and  then  all  at  once  he 
turned  abruptly  toward  her.  "It  might 
surely  have  been  a  dirge,"  he  said. 
"Could  you  bear  to  have  me  tell  you  a 
little  of  myself,  of  the  life  before  I  came 
to  this  place?"  he  asked.  "But  it  is  not 
136 


Florida  Alexander 

so  much  of  my  own  life  as  of  the  life  of 
some  one  who,  for  many  years,  was  every 
thing  to  me  that  I  should  like  to  speak,  if 
you  would  care  to  listen." 

His  manner  was  very  quiet,  but  he  was 
evidently  stirred  to  the  utmost  depths  of 
his  nature  by  some  thrilling  recollection. 
His  eyes  were  gravely  earnest  and  he 
was  paler  than  ordinarily.  He  waited  for 
her  reply. 

She  caught  in  her  breath  quickly,  when 
she  slowly  lifted  her  eyes  to  his  face.  "If 
it  is  hard  for  you,"  she  began,  shrinking 
sensitively  from  she  scarce  knew  what, 
"if  it  is  hard " 

"Since  my  friend's  death  I  have  never 
been  able  to  mention  his  name  to  any 
one;  but  it  is  not  hard  to  speak  of  him  to 
you,"  he  said,  with  a  profound  sincerity 
in  the  words.  "And  to-day  all  my 
thoughts  have  been  turned  backward  by 
a  notice  in  one  of  the  Eastern  papers 
stating  the  death  through  consumption  of 
the  young  girl  to  whom  he  had  been  en 
gaged.  It  was  of  my  friend  I  had  been 


Florida  Alexander 

thinking  when  I  came  upon  you."  The 
hand  that  again  swept  across  his  brow 
shook  a  little  as  he  continued. 

"We  had  been  intimate  since  boyhood; 
but  it  would  be  impossible  to  conceive  of 
two  people  more  unlike.  My  life  has 
always  been  solitary ;  his  was  spent  con 
tinually  out  in  the  world.  Ardent,  pleas 
ure-loving,  wholly  irresponsible,  often 
impulsively  wrong,  seldom  deliberately 
so,  his  was  an  organism  in  which,  if  there 
was  no  pronounced  tendency  for  good, 
there  was  also  no  pronounced  tendency 
for  evil ;  and  in  thinking  of  him,  and  of 
the  things  he  was  led  to  do,  it  has  always 
been  something  to  me  to  hold  fast  to  the 
thought  that  had  he  been  less  powerfully 
tempted  than  he  was  he  might  some  day 
have  become  strong." 

She  was  leaning  passively  against  the 
bole  of  the  massive  oak  at  her  back.  Her 
eyes  were  downcast,  and  her  hands  were 
clasped  rather  tightly  in  her  lap.  She 
appeared  to  be  listening  intently.  Sud 
denly  she  half  rose  from  her  seat,  and  he 
'38 


Florida  Alexander 

was  startled  by  the  sharp  cry  that  escaped 
her.  But  in  the  next  instant  he  perceived 
the  cause  of  it ;  a  rabbit  had  run  across 
the  path. 

"Pardon  me,"  said  Florida,  quickly, 
in  a  low  voice.  "I — I  am  not  often  so 
foolishly  superstitious."  A  faint  smile 
played  about  her  lips.  "Please  go 
on,"  she  insisted;  her  great  brown  eyes 
seemed  filled  with  sympathetic  interest. 
"You  were  saying  that  had  your  friend 
been  less  powerfully  tempted  than  he 
was " 

"I  had  aways  had  the  belief,"  resumed 
St.  John,  "that  through  the  love  of  some 
good  woman  he  might  be  made  to  see 
many  things  to  which  formerly  he  had 
been  morally  blind.  But  when  one  day 
he  told  me  he  was  engaged  to  be  married 
to  a  young  woman  I  knew,  I  felt  my 
heart  sink  with  apprehension.  The  girl 
was  pretty,  but  weak,  wholly  incapable 
of  exercising  the  influence  for  which  I 
hoped.  My  fears  were  only  too  soon 
realized ;  in  less  than  three  months  I  saw 


Florida  Alexander 

that  he  was  growing  cold  in  his  feeling 
toward  her." 

He  was  looking  steadily  away  now,  and 
he  proceeded  in  a  changed  voice. 

"But  I  did  not  fully  realize  the  situa 
tion  until  the  summer,  when  I  knew  that 
she  had  gone  to  Newport,  and  saw  that 
he  failed  to  follow  her;  and  I  do  not 
think  that  he  realized  the  situation  at  all. 
She  wrote  to  him  frequently — light,  gos 
sipy  letters  they  must  have  been.  He 
sometimes  mentioned  to  me  certain  inci 
dents  of  which  she  had  written ;  we  were 
very  intimate.  In  her  letters  she  made 
repeated,  veiled  references,  withholding 
the  name,  to  a  beautiful  young  woman — 
from  the  South,  I  think — who  must  have 
been  as  magnetic  and  as  alluring  as  she 
was  beautiful;  and  it  happened  that  the 
fanciful  description  caught  his  attention. 
As  by  accident,  he  carelessly  touched 
upon  the  subject,  from  time  to  time,  with 
me,  and  always  there  was  something  in 
his  constrained,  laughing  tone  to  betray 
that  he  was  strangely  interested.  It  was 
140 


Florida  Alexander 

scarcely  a  surprise  to  me  when  he  finally 
announced  his  intention  of  going  to  New 
port.  He  wrote  to  me  one  letter  during 
the  six  weeks  he  spent  there — the  letter  of 
a  man  blind,  infatuated,  utterly  swept  off 
his  feet.  Had  this  woman,  who  proved 
to  be  his  destiny,  been  a  good  woman 
instead  of  the  woman  she  was " 

She  interrupted  him  with  a  sudden, 
sharp  gesture.  "What  right  have  you — 
how  can  you  dare  to  lay  all  the  blame 
upon  her — upon  this  woman — whoever 
she  may  be?"  she  cried.  Her  eyes  were 
wide  and  staring,  and  her  face  was  quiv 
ering  with  an  intensity  of  feeling. 

He  turned  toward  her. 

"It  seems  to  me  that  there  cannot  be 
two  opinions  in  the  matter,"  he  said, 
coldly.  "She  understood  the  situation 
perfectly,  knew  that  his  highest  allegiance 
was  due  another  woman,  a  woman  who 
was  her  friend,  and  knowing  it,  she  pro 
ceeded  to  inflict  the  bitterest  humiliation 
that  one  person  can  inflict  upon  another, 
and  in  the  most  public  way.  There  is 
HI 


Florida  Alexander 

no  limitation  to  the  vanity  of  such  a 
woman." 

She  put  up  her  hand  to  her  throat  and 
held  it  there  for  a  moment. 

"Have  you  no  mercy?"  she  implored. 
A  shiver  seemed  to  sweep  over  her. 
"May  she  not  have  been  powerfully 
tempted,  too?"  The  words  broke  from 
her  at  last  in  a  despairing  appeal. 

He  looked  at  her  with  admiration  in 
his  eyes.  "It  is  very  beautiful  that  you 
should  plead  for  her,"  he  answered 
warmly;  "but  you  are  so  far  incapable  of 
such  an  act  as  hers  as  to  be  wholly  unable 
to  understand  all  that  it  implies." 

She  drew  back  as  if  there  had  been 
that  in  his  praise  that  stung. 

"No;  I  have  never  been  able  to  find 
the  smallest  excuse  for  her,"  he  said, 
sternly,  at  length,  "for  if  at  any  time 
there  was  an  excuse,  her  subsequent  con 
duct  left  small  room  for  doubt  of  her 
heartlessness.  Having  wrought  all  the 
mischief  she  could  in  the  way  of  a  broken 
engagement,  and  I  may  truly  say  a 
142 


Florida  Alexander 

broken  heart  as  well — for  the  death  of  the 
young  girl  to  whom  he  had  proved  faith 
less  really  dated  from  that  time — she 
seemed  to  take  refuge  in  a  cheap  re 
morse.  Refusing  steadfastly  to  see  him 
ever  again,  she  went  abroad,  I  think,  and 
managed  to  hide  herself  from  him  for  a 
time.  He  succeeded  in  finding  her  at 
length,  however,  and  she  informed  him 
that  she  had  somewhat  misunderstood  the 
nature  of  her  feeling  for  him,  imploring 
him  to  go  back  to  the  woman  he  had  de 
serted.  In  a  spirit  of  pique  he  did  go 
back,  and  shortly  afterward  it  was  an 
nounced  that  the  marriage  would  take 
place."  He  paused  a  moment,  and  then 
added:  "Two  weeks  before  the  day  fixed 
for  the  wedding  he  was  drowned  mysteri 
ously  off  the  coast " 

She  turned  wildly  upon  him.  "It 
was  an  accident, "  she  whispered,  husk 
ily,  "surely  it  was  that.  I  mean," 
suddenly  checking  herself,  "what  you 
imply  is  too  hideous  to  be  true.  It 
must  have  been  an  accident,"  breath- 


Florida  Alexander 

lessly.  "Why — why — do  you  speak  as  if 
it  were  not?" 

The  corners  of  his  mouth  were  com 
pressed  ;  evidently  it  was  costing  him  a 
good  deal  to  tell  the  story,  even  to  her. 

"It  was  not  an  accident,"  said  St. 
John,  slowly,  at  length.  "He  swam 
better  than  any  one  I  ever  saw;  it  is  im 
possible  that  he  could  have  been  drowned, 
the  circumstances  being  what  they  were. 
Moreover,  I  had  proof." 

He  paused  a  moment  and  looked 
quickly  about  him.  The  woods  had  be 
come  darkened,  and  there  was  now  and 
again  a  low,  angry,  rumbling  sound,  like 
the  rage  of  a  savage  beast  hungrily  seek 
ing  its  prey.  The  odor  of  the  dank 
grasses  was  oppressive  and  the  air  was 
stifling.  But  Florida's  eyes  were  still 
fixed  upon  his  face  in  a  kind  of  strained, 
breathless  intentness.  The  supple  figure 
had  become  rigid ;  her  parted  lips  were 
dry  and  parched.  Her  eyes  seemed  to 
compel  him  to  go  on. 

"A  few  moments  before  his  death  he 
i44 


Florida  Alexander 

wrote  a  letter  to  me.  It  was  the  letter 
of  a  madman.  There  can  be  no  question 
that,  driven  to  desperation,  he  took  his 
own  life,"  he  concluded,  hoarsely. 
"Ballinger " 

Like  a  blade,  a  sudden,  terrific  flash  of 
lightning  cut  off  the  unintentional  men 
tion  of  the  name,  and  with  a  shriek  Flor 
ida  sprang  trembling  to  her  feet,  as  there 
followed  a  deafening,  reverberating  peal 
that  seemed  to  shake  the  forest  to  its  ut 
most  depths. 

He  rose  alarmed.  With  incredible 
rapidity  the  clouds  had  gathered.  As 
frequently  happens  in  Kentucky  in  the 
month  of  June,  there  had  been  but  little 
warning,  and  it  appeared  now  that  the 
storm  was  about  to  break  upon  them  in 
great  fury. 

He  gave  her  a  swift  glance  of  uneasi 
ness.  She  was  still  trembling,  and  very 
pale.  The  giant  oak  above  them  groaned 
and  swayed.  She  stood  as  one  stunned. 
"Come,"  he  said,  quickly,  "we  have  not 
an  instant  to  lose;  come." 
MS 


Florida  Alexander 

But  she  remained  motionless,  bewil 
dered,  her  eyes  still  searching  his  face. 
"Come,"  he  insisted  again;  but  she 
seemed  to  shrink  from  him. 

Presently  he  reached  down  and  caught 
her  arm,  placing  it  authoritatively  in  his, 
and  thus  hurried  her  out  of  the  woods. 
They  could  barely  hear  each  other  speak. 

"Don't  be  so  frightened,"  he  cried, 
disturbed  at  her  pallor,  as  he  almost 
dragged  her  along.  ' '  I  think  there  is  still 
time  enough  for  us  to  reach  the  car,  if 
fortunately  one  should  appear.  Ah — 
don't  tremble  so!" 

Once  out  of  the  forest,  her  strength 
seemed  to  return.  She  broke  away  from 
him  and  ran  swiftly  down  the  road.  The 
dusty  pike  was  dimpled  here  and  there 
with  great  moist  splashes.  He  was  up 
with  her  again  in  a  moment,  and  this 
time  her  arm  was  placed  more  firmly  in 
his. 

"You  will  make  yourself  ill,"  cried  St. 
John,  remorsefully;  "I  have  been  to 
blame.  If  only  we  can  reach  some  place 
146 


Florida  Alexander 

of  shelter!  I  shall  never  forgive  myself 
if  I  let  you  get  wet!" 

"That  seems — oh,  it  seems  such  a  little 
thing,"  answered  Florida,  wearily  and  in 
coherently.  Then  she  added  hurriedly, 
"I — I  am  aways  frightened  in  a  storm;  I 
like  it,  though." 

She  lifted  her  head,  and  a  wan  little 
smile  broke  over  her  face.  They  walked 
for  some  moments  in  silence.  All  at 
once  she  paused  and  looked  intently  down 
the  road. 

"The  car!  the  car!"  she  cried. 

"Yes,  it  is  the  car,"  he  answered.  "I 
am  so  glad ;  I  should  never  have  forgiven 
myself  if  I  had  let  you  get  wet." 

His  glance  sank  deep,  deeper  into  hers. 

Suddenly  with  a  low,  bitter  little  laugh 
she  turned  away. 

The  car  had  stopped,  and  she  sprang 
into  it,  avoiding  his  aid. 


'47 


X 

When  Mrs.  Pemberton  Jerome  decided 
to  make  her  home  in  the  charming  little 
capital  of  the  Bluegrass  Region  with  the 
ambitious  intention  of  becoming  a  social 
magnate,  she  ignorantly  overlooked  in 
her  calculations  certain  difficulties  which 
did  not  fail  to  confront  her  from  the  very 
outset  of  her  career.  To  her  surprise 
and  discomfiture,  she  did  not  receive  the 
cordial  welcome  she  had  anticipated,  the 
hospitality  for  which  the  locality  has  long 
been  famed  being  conspicuously  wanting. 

In  spite  of  a  considerable  amount  of 
travel  and  experience  in  later  years,  the 
pretty  young  widow,  whose  early  youth 
had  been  spent  in  an  obscure  Western 
town,  had  yet  to  know  many  things. 
Among  these  was  the  very  obvious  truth 
that  he  who  would  run  with  safety  must 
148 


Florida  Alexander 

first  learn  to  walk.  It  had  been  Mrs. 
Jerome's  great  blunder  in  the  beginning 
that  she  had  startled  the  inhabitants  of 
this  quiet  and  somewhat  exclusive  little 
city  by  a  gait  rather  too  rapid  to  be  sus 
tained  with  impunity,  especially  by  one 
so  recently  arrived  in  their  midst. 

The  old  and  well-established  Lexing- 
tonian  is  apt  to  look  askance  on  all  new 
comers.  In  the  case  of  Mrs.  Pemberton 
Jerome,  the  old  and  well-established  Lex- 
ingtonian  generally  refused  to  look  at  all. 
And  as  it  was  the  unswerving  purpose 
of  this  audacious  but  shrewd  little  person 
age  to  obtain  for  herself  a  footing  neither 
slippery  nor  insecure,  she  prudently  pro 
ceeded  to  slacken  her  pace. 

In  the  first  place,  her  costumes,  which 
had  given  offense  by  their  gaudiness  and 
exaggerated  adherence  to  the  latest  fash 
ions,  grew  more  subdued.  If  formerly, 
with  her  plumes  and  laces  and  flounces, 
she  had  presented  an  altogether  too 
gay  and  costly  appearance  as  she  swept 
through  the  streets  of  the  old  town  in 
149 


Florida  Alexander 

her  showy  equipages,  she  now  affected, 
with  a  chameleon-like  adaptability,  the 
quiet  and  more  elegant  attire  of  the 
well-bred  people  she  was  accustomed  to 
pass,  the  result  being  as  propitious,  so 
far  as  her  hopes  for  future  recognition 
were  concerned,  as  it  was  softening  to  her 
pronounced  style  of  beauty. 

She  was  a  strikingly  pretty  woman,  of 
the  plump  and  dimpled  order,  with  skin 
like  a  pearl  and  an  abundance  of  curling 
auburn  hair,  which  she  wore  parted  above 
a  very  low  brow.  And  when  she  spoke, 
it  was  with  a  soft,  infantile  little  lisp, 
and  when  she  laughed,  which  was  quite 
often,  there  were  two  lovely  indentations 
in  either  cheek;  and  it  was  odd  but  true 
that,  in  spite  of  all  this,  there  was  yet  a 
look  of  hardness  about  the  small  face, 
which  must  have  afforded  Mrs.  Alexan 
der  excuse  for  persistently  regarding  her 
as  an  adventuress  long  after  she  had  be 
gun  to  be  received. 

It  was  not  Mrs.  Alexander's  intention 
ever  to  receive  her  at  any  time.     The  old 
150 


Florida  Alexander 

aristocracy  could  not  be  too  wary,  she 
affirmed.  There  was  one  point  concern 
ing  which  she  felt  more  strongly  than  any 
other:  the  subject  of  family  prestige. 
But  how  was  it  possible  to  maintain  this, 
if  the  best  people  opened  their  doors  to 
every  unknown  individual  who  chanced  to 
be  attracted  to  the  place?  And  she  said 
as  much  to  her  stepdaughter  one  June 
afternoon  when  the  two  were  driving  out 
on  one  of  the  lovely  country  roads  and 
happened  to  meet  Mrs.  Pemberton  Je 
rome. 

The  latter,  faultlessly  dressed  in  a 
cream-colored  cloth  gown,  was  indolently 
reclining  in  her  pretty  victoria  with  an  air 
of  assurance  which  Mrs.  Alexander  found 
most  irritating.  Perhaps  her  resentment 
was  heightened  by  the  consciousness  that 
her  ancient  and  highly  respectable  coach 
with  Uncle  Abram  on  the  box  bore  the 
contrast  but  sadly  with  Mrs.  Jerome's 
liveried  coachman  and  spick  and  span 
turnout.  Of  course  one  might  take  ref 
uge  in  the  thought  that  it  was  infinitely 


Florida  Alexander 

more  in  accord  with  Kentucky  ways  (and 
therefore  the  more  desirable)  to  make 
use  of  the  carnage  owned  by  one's  hus 
band  almost  since  the  days  of  the  war, 
and  to  be  driven  by  an  aged  colored  serv 
ant  that  had  been  his  former  slave;  but 
Mrs.  Jerome's  newness  was  none  the  less 
an  affront,  and  Mrs.  Alexander  mani 
fested  her  disapproval  by  a  haughty  gaze 
into  space,  when  the  two  vehicles  passed 
each  other,  which  was  intended  to  crush, 
if  not  to  annihilate. 

She  sat  for  a  moment  with  lowered 
brow,  and  then  suddenly  brought  herself 
bolt-upright  in  her  seat. 

"Florida,"  she  said,  sharply,  "your 
views  are  so  very  eccentric  upon  many 
subjects,  it  is  impossible  to  conjecture 
what  your  conduct  is  likely  to  be  in  any 
case ;  but  I  particularly  wish  to  know 
what  you  propose  to  do  in  regard  to — 
this  young  woman.  I  consider  the  ad 
vent  of  such  a  person  in  our  midst  as  a 
crisis  in  our  social  life." 

They  were  driving  through  a  delightful 


Florida  Alexander 

stretch  of  country  leading  out  from  one 
of  the  broad  thoroughfares.  Now  and 
then,  under  the  azure  sky,  one  caught 
glimpses  of  substantial  old  homesteads 
half  hidden  in  the  forests  about  them,  the 
soft,  undulating  landscape  seeming  to 
melt  away  into  mountains  or  seas  of 
green,  according  as  there  appeared  in  the 
distance  the  dim  outline  of  towering 
trees,  or  sunny,  waving  fields  of  grain. 
And  on  all  sides  there  was  an  exuberance 
of  nature,  a  luxuriant  rioting  of  vegetable 
life  that  gave  one  a  sense  of  wholesome 
satisfaction  in  the  thought  that  here  at 
least  perfection  was  to  be  found. 

Florida  reluctantly  withdrew  her  eyes 
from  the  plot  of  pink  clover  they  were  at 
that  moment  passing.  Her  face  wore  a 
look  of  surprise.  "In  regard  to — whom?" 
she  inquired  vaguely,  her  thoughts  having 
evidently  been  far  away. 

"In  regard  to  this  most  objectionable 
person — this  Mrs.  Pemberton  Jerome,  as 
she  calls  herself,  I  believe,"  the  elder 
woman  explained,  impatiently. 


Florida  Alexander 

"But  why  should  she  not  call  herself 
that  if  it  happens  to  be  her  name?"  A 
playful  smile  flitted  across  the  girl's  face, 
and  her  stepmother  turned  upon  her  with 
severity. 

"You  would  not — surely  you  would 
not  consider  the  question  of  calling  upon 
her?"  she  demanded,  her  cold,  black  eyes 
fired  with  indignation. 

"I  have  not  considered  it,"  replied 
Florida,  indifferently. 

In  the  brief  glances  she  had  occasion 
ally  given  the  "objectionable  person"  as 
she  passed  her  from  time  to  time  in  the 
streets,  she  had  thought  her  a  pretty, 
underbred,  but  entirely  harmless-looking 
individual. 

"It  is  disgraceful,"  Mrs.  Alexander 
resumed,  with  an  arrogant  little  sniff, 
"that  a  dignified  old  town  like  this  should 
open  its  doors  to  a  person  of  whom  abso 
lutely  nothing  is  known,  merely  because 
she  has  bought  one  of  the  handsomest 
homes  in  the  place  (I  always  particularly 
admired  that  house  opposite  the  park) 
154 


Florida  Alexander 

and  entertains  with  a  lavishness  which, 
from  a  stranger,  is  grossly  out  of  taste. 
A  stranger  should  not  entertain  at  all.  It 
is  shocking — shocking.  Quite  a  number 
have  called  upon  her,  would  you  believe 
it?" 

"I  can  readily  believe  it,"  said  Flor 
ida,  with  a  laugh.  Her  glance  stole 
away  to  the  blossoms  and  lovely  green 
things  by  the  roadside.  She  was  think 
ing  a  little  wearily  of  how  utterly  impos 
sible  it  would  be  for  her  now  to  take  up 
the  life  in  this  place  ever  again.  The  idle 
gossip  and  comment  to  which  she  was 
constantly  forced  to  become  an  unwilling 
listener  were  growing  unbearable.  "It  is 
not  the  provincialism,"  she  sometimes 
said  in  feverish  rebellion  to  herself;  "the 
place  is  not  really  provincial;  it  is  simply 
stifling."  And  as  her  stepmother  contin 
ued,  there  came  crowding  into  her  mind 
recollections  of  the  old  college  days,  of 
the  broad  purpose  that  had  been  before 
her  once,  and  of  the  abrupt,  melancholy 
ending  to  her  high  thoughts  for  useful- 


Florida  Alexander 

ness,  just  as  if  there  had  been  a  paralysis 
of  all  her  powers. 

"She  has  daring — great  daring,"  Mrs. 
Alexander  resumed,  keeping  a  strong 
grasp  upon  the  topic  in  spite  of  Florida's 
very  palpable  lack  of  interest.  "And  she 
has  evidently  not  the  smallest  desire  for 
mental  improvement.  When  asked  to 
join  the 'Progressive  Woman's  Club,'  I 
am  told  that  she  leaned  back  in  her  chair 
with  that  audacious  little  air  she  well 
assumes,  and  nonchalantly  said:  'My 
dear,  a  club  is  an  excellent  place  for  a 
disappointed  old  maid  or  an  unhappy 
married  woman;  I  am  neither.'  ' 

"Perhaps  she  is  growing  careless  of 
feminine  approval,"  suggested  Florida. 

Mrs.  Alexander  nodded.  "I  hear  she 
has  the  devoted  attention  of  Colonel 
Rufus  Henry  and  young  Robert  Vance," 
she  remarked.  There  was  that  in  her 
fretful,  metallic  voice  to-day  that  irresist 
ibly  put  one  in  mind  of  a  parrot. 

"Perhaps  she  finds  them  all-sufficient," 


156 


Florida  Alexander 

replied  Florida  in  cheerful  dismissal  of  the 
subject. 

Mrs.  Alexander  darted  a  sharp  glance 
toward  her  stepdaughter's  indifferent 
countenance,  and  a  malicious  smile  curled 
her  lips. 

"No;  she  does  not  find  them  all-suffi 
cient.  I  am  told  that  recently  a  new 
knight  has  been  added  to  her  list — your 
Mr.  St.  John,"  she  said. 

Without  the  flicker  of  an  eyelash  or  the 
most  faintly  perceptible  change  of  color, 
Florida  quietly  turned  and  met  her  step 
mother's  gaze.  Her  cool,  unconcerned 
reception  of  the  thrust  was  an  annoying 
surprise.  Mrs.  Alexander  grew  some 
what  embarrassed,  but  she  stoutly  held  to 
her  position. 

"I  hear  that  he  is  with  her  constantly 
— constantly,"  she  declared. 

"Then  plainly  he  does  not  share  your 
opinion  in  regard  to  the  importance  of 
guarding  against  her  entrance  into  good 
society.  Not  being  a  Lexingtonian  him- 


Florida  Alexander 

self,  he  probably  feels  less  responsibility 
in  the  matter." 

Mrs.  Alexander  bit  her  lips. 

"Florida,"  said  she,  bluntly,  at  length, 
"I  think  I  need  not  point  out  to  a  woman 
with  your  knowledge  of  the  world  the  ad 
vantages  of  matrimony  to  one  situated 
as  you  are.  Before  many  years  have 
gone  by,  the  little  girls  will  be  ready  to 
be  presented  to  society,  and  with  the 
wide  difference  in  your  ages,  your  atti 
tude  will  be  anything  but  comfortable. 
As  for  this  Mr.  St.  John,  I  am  free  to 
say  I  never  fancied  him  myself;  I 
thought  him  ordinary,  quite  ordinary. 
But  any  one  can  see  that  he  rather  ad 
mires  you,  and  I  think  the  match  would 
be  satisfactory  to  your  father." 

A  shadowy  smile  flickered  across  Flor 
ida's  face.  "I  am  sorry,  very  sorry  in 
deed,"  she  said,  "to  have  to  tell  you 
that  in  spite  of  the  advantages  of  matri 
mony  to  one  situated  as  I  am,  I  shall,  not 
withstanding,  never  be  any  man's  wife." 

Mrs.  Alexander  wheeled  herself  ab- 
158 


Florida  Alexander 

ruptly  about  in  the  carriage,  and  peered 
penetratingly  into  the  girl's  face. 

"What  nonsense,  what  absurd  school 
girl's  nonsense  is  this  you  are  talking?" 
she  demanded,  severely. 

Florida  was  silent.  Her  lightly  spoken 
words  had  left  a  startling  echo  in  her 
own.  heart. 

"No  doubt  you  have  had  some  unfor 
tunate  love  affair — 

A  swift  crimson  dyed  the  girl's  throat 
and  cheek  and  brow. 

"And  for  that  reason  you  think  you 
are  done  with  all  such  matters  forever. 
But  at  your  age  it  is  hardly  wise  to  let 
this  opportunity  slip.  A  designing 
woman  like  this  Mrs.  Jerome  can  ac 
complish  a  great  deal.  Moreover,  the 
woman  is  pretty,  decidedly  pretty  in  her 
way.  My  taste  is  for  a  more  classic  style 
of  beauty,  to  be  sure,"  carefully  turning 
her  face  to  the  precise  position  at  which 
her  profile  was  to  be  seen  at  its  best; 
"but  it  is  just  such  a  little  plump  sort  of 
being  as  she  that  two-thirds  of  the  men  in 


Florida  Alexander 

the  world  would  prefer;  not  that  any  one 
could  call  you  homely,  my  dear,  though 
your  features  are  far  from  perfect." 

Florida  broke  into  a  low,  spontaneous 
laugh,  and  Mrs.  Alexander  regarded  her  a 
trifle  suspiciously. 

"A  wise  woman  never  underrates  her 
rival's  strength,"  she  asserted  ominously, 
adjusting  more  comfortably  the  airy  lit 
tle  structure,  composed  of  artificial  violets 
and  lavender  ribbon,  she  was  wearing 
upon  her  head.  "And  there  is  such  a 
thing  as  holding  one's  own  charm  in  too 
high  estimate." 

The  carriage  had  stopped  before  their 
house.  Florida  sprang  gayly  out ;  a  rosy 
radiance  suddenly  overspread  her  face. 

"So  you  are  warning  me  against  Mrs. 
Pemberton  Jerome?"  she  said,  smiling, 
as  she  leaned  carelessly  upon  the  door  for 
an  instant. 

"Forewarned  is  forearmed,"  the  other 
retorted,    dryly,    gathering   up    her   lace 
cape  with  an  impatient  shrug,  and  pre 
paring  to  descend  from  the  coach. 
1 60 


XI 

If,  judging  by  appearances,  Mrs.  Alex 
ander  had  proved  herself  unable  to  pro 
voke  the  remotest  dread  or  even  a  mo 
mentary  curiosity  on  the  part  of  her  step 
daughter  touching  the  attractions  of  Mrs. 
Pemberton  Jerome,  it  is  equally  true 
that  the  young  widow  regarded  the  girl 
not  only  as  an  acquaintance  to  be  desired, 
but  as  a  rival  to  be  feared.  Furthermore, 
she  was  beginning  to  find  the  situation 
somewhat  irritating,  and  was  disturbed 
on  being  constantly  forced  to  confess 
that,  thus  far,  the  Alexanders  had  failed 
to  acknowledge  her  presence  in  their 
midst. 

They  had  interested  her  greatly,  the 
more,  perhaps,  for  the  reason  that  they 
were  quite  unattainable.  It  was,  there 
fore,  with  a  secret  satisfaction  that  she 
161 


Florida  Alexander 

grasped  an  opportunity  afforded  only  a 
few  evenings  after  that  last  encounter  on 
the  drive. 

There  was  to  be  a  moonlight  fete  on 
rather  an  extensive  scale  at  one  of  the 
beautiful  country-homes,  and  Mrs.  Je 
rome  had  had  the  rare  fortune  to  receive 
an  invitation  to  this,  along  with  most  of 
the  prominent  members  of  that  circle  into 
which,  with  a  perseverance  worthy  of  a 
nobler  cause,  she  ceaselessly  strove  to 
enter. 

On  account  of  certain  things  in  har 
mony  with  her  well-considered  scheme  of 
action,  Mrs.  Jerome  looked  upon  this 
event  as  one  of  more  than  ordinary  pur 
port.  She  accordingly  adorned  herself  on 
the  all-important  evening  with  especial 
care,  selecting  a  black  tulle  gown,  span 
gled  with  silver,  which,  falling  loosely 
from  her  ivory  shoulders  contrasted  strik 
ingly  with  her  fair  complexion,  and 
brought  out  the  tints  of  her  auburn  hair. 
The  consciousness  that  her  costume  was 
both  effective  and  becoming  fully  atoned 
162 


Florida  Alexander 

for  its  inappropriateness  and  the  fact  that 
the  gown  would  probably  be  sacrificed  in 
the  damp  night  air.  Mrs.  Jerome  pro 
posed  to  spend  a  considerable  amount  of 
time  in  the  damp  night  air;  but  the  sac 
rifice  was  to  be  for  a  most  desired  end. 
She  arrived  early. 

Establishing  herself  in  a  large  blue  satin 
chair  in  a  conspicuous  position  in  the 
drawing-room  where  the  guests  were  be 
ing  received,  she  was  soon  surrounded. 
Her  plans,  however,  on  this  occasion, 
were  laid  for  one. 

After  the  significance  of  the  throng 
about  her  had  been  fully  perceived,  she 
adroitly  proceeded  to  diminish  the  ranks. 
Finally,  only  two  remained :  a  young 
man  with  a  bold,  smooth-shaved  face, 
and  a  stout,  blonde,  military-looking  indi 
vidual  of  about  sixty,  with  an  excessively 
pompous  manner,  who  was  evidently  at 
tempting  to  monopolize  the  pretty  widow, 
regardless  of  the  presence  of  her  more 
youthful  admirer. 

"Colonel   Henry,"  said  she  at  length, 
163 


Florida  Alexander 

smiling  coquettishly  up  at  her  elderly 
suitor,  as  she  languidly  waved  her  fan  of 
black  ostrich  tips  to  and  fro,  "since  I 
heard  that  you  came  originally  from  Vir 
ginia,  I  have  so  many  times  wished  to 
ask  if  you  are  at  all  related  to  the  man 
who  said,  'Give  me  liberty,  or  give  me 
death.'  " 

"Yes,  madam,"  replied  the  Colonel,  in 
his  deep  bass  voice,  with  elaborate  gal 
lantry,  "I  believe  there  is  a  distant  rela 
tionship  between  my  family  and  that  of 
Patrick  Henry,"  swelling  with  impor 
tance,  and  thus  deigning  to  own  the  Vir 
ginian  Demosthenes.  "But  you  will  al 
low  me  to  say,"  with  an  insinuating  ogle, 
and  another  profound  bow,  "that  I  cannot 
entirely  accept  the  sentiment  of  my  dis 
tinguished  relative  as  expressed  in  the 
words  you  have  just  quoted;  under  one 
condition  I  should  prefer  death  to  lib 
erty." 

"When  I  was  last  at  the  White  Sul 
phur,"  continued  Mrs.  Jerome,  "there 
was  a  Mr,  Henry  who  had  previously 
164 


Florida  Alexander 

been  there,  of  whom  I  heard  a  great 
deal.  He  stayed  six  weeks,  and  in  that 
time  it  was  said  that  he  courted  six 
women — very  charming  young  persons, 
indeed,  and  each  reported  to  be  very 
wealthy." 

The  man's  fat,  flabby  countenance  grew 
suddenly  alarmingly  ruddy. 

"He  left  just  before  I  came.  I  was  so 
very  sorry;  I  am  not  very  wealthy,  but  I 
might  have  been  the  seventh  woman," 
sweetly  remarked  Mrs.  Jerome. 

"Madam,"  said  the  irate  Colonel,  with 
a  low  growl,  as  he  turned  on  his  heel,  "it 
is  my  opinion  that  a  damn  sight  of  you 
women  think  yourselves  courted  when 
you  re  not!" 

The  widow's  sparkling  eyes  followed 
the  wrathful,  retreating  figure.  Then, 
stifling  a  yawn,  she  broke  into  a  short, 
bubbling  laugh  as  she  turned  to  her  com 
panion. 

"Mr.  Vance,"  she  asked,  "is  Colonel 
Henry  a  friend  of  yours?" 

The  young  man  looked  amused.  "With 
165 


Florida  Alexander 

a  limitation,  Mrs.  Jerome,"  he  replied. 
"However,  we  are  on  quite  pleasant 
enough  terms." 

Mrs.  Jerome's  manner  became  eager, 
even  intense. 

"Then  please  tell  him,  do  tell  him,  the 
first  opportunity  you  have,  how  destruc 
tive  anger  is  to  the  complexion,"  she  im 
plored. 

At  this  moment  Mrs.  Alexander  and 
Florida  entered  the  room,  and  Mrs.  Je 
rome  turned  a  slow,  insolent,  scrutinizing 
gaze  upon  them,  her  eyes  finally  resting 
upon  the  younger  woman  with  a  certain 
inward  misgiving. 

The  girl's  high-bred  style  of  beauty 
seemed  to  derive  a  special  distinction 
from  the  severe  simplicity  of  her  white 
mull  gown,  which  was  cut  only  a  little 
low  and  shirred  about  the  neck  without 
lace  or  trimming.  Her  arms  were 
bare  below  the  elbow.  Her  polished 
brown  hair  was  drawn  lightly  back  from 
the  broad,  low  brow,  and  piled  high  on 
the  well-poised  head  in  a  picturesque  in- 
166 


Florida  Alexander 

dividuality  of  style.  Three  or  four  old- 
fashioned  cinnamon  roses  were  thrust 
carelessly  into  her  belt. 

Mrs.  Jerome  did  not  remove  her  eyes. 

"So  I  behold  the  paragon  of  whom  I 
have  heard  so  much!"  she  exclaimed,  at 
length,  in  a  sarcastic  undertone.  "That 
is  Miss  Alexander,  is  it  not?" 

"That  is  Miss  Alexander,"  young 
Vance  affirmed.  His  cool,  calculating 
countenance  bore  a  look  of  admiration, 
as  his  glance  followed  the  girl's  move 
ment  across  the  room. 

The  widow  sank  back  into  her  chair 
with  an  air  of  being  bored. 

"Do  you  think  her  as  beautiful  as  some 
of  the  other  people  here?"  she  inquired, 
carelessly. 

"I  think  her  most  beautiful,"  replied 
the  young  man,  rather  absently. 

"Do  you  consider  her  the  most  beau 
tiful  woman  in  the  State?" 

"Perhaps." 

She  laughed  a  little  in  a  nervous,  em 
barrassed  sort  of  way,  and  then  leaned 
167 


Florida  Alexander 

alluringly  forward,  keeping  her  eyes  play 
fully  on  his  face. 

"Do  you  consider  her  more  beautiful 
than — well,  than  myself,  for  instance,  for 
want  of  a  better  comparison?" 

"I  should  never  think  of  comparing 
you  with  Miss  Alexander,"  he  answered, 
smiling,  as  his  glance  returned  to  the 
plump  little  creature  at  his  side.  He 
met  her  gaze  with  a  certain  boldness  in 
the  look. 

"That  is  a  doubtful  compliment,"  she 
pouted. 

"No." 

''Would  you  not?  For  what  reason, 
or  reasons,  may  I  ask?" 

"For  the  very  obvious  one  that  you 
are  totally  unlike  her  in  every  respect. 
The  fact  is,"  speaking  quite  seriously, 
"I  don't  know  exactly  whom  I  could 
compare  with  her,  when  it  comes  to  that ; 
there  is  something  so  sympathetic  and 
broad  about  her  a  fellow  hesitates  to  put 
her  on  the  plane  with  other  people,  some 
how." 

1 68 


Florida  Alexander 

"You  are  highly  flattering." 

The  young  man  caught  himself  up  with 
a  start. 

"I  mean  simply,"  he  began,  rather 
hurriedly,  "that  she  never — that  is,  that 
she  could  not — oh,  hang  it!  what  I  want 
to  say  is  that  she  would  hate  like  the 
mischief  to  hurt  the  feelings  of — of  a 
tramp,  even,  and  that — 

"And  that  she  would  be  incapable  of 
resorting  to  the  means  I  have  just  em 
ployed  of  getting  rid  of  a  tiresome  ac 
quaintance?" 

It  was  apparent  that  he  was  undergoing 
a  certain  struggle  within  himself. 

"I  believe  she  would  be  incapable  of 
that,"  he  answered  at  length,  in  a  firm, 
quiet  voice. 

Mrs.  Jerome  was  silent.  Presently  she 
looked  up,  and  tapped  him  lightly  on  the 
arm  with  her  fan.  The  hard  look  that 
Mrs.  Alexander  had  commented  upon 
seemed  especially  in  evidence. 

"My  friend,"  she  said,  coldly,  "I  have 
found  you  rather  more  entertaining  than 
169 


Florida  Alexander 

some  of  the  people  I  have  met  thus  far; 
but  you  have  yet  to  learn  one  great  and 
important  truth :  and  that  is,  a  wise  man 
never  seeks  to  please  one  woman  by  an 
exaggerated  compliment  bestowed  upon 
another." 

And  having  delivered  this  sage  remark, 
she  abruptly  turned  her  shoulder  upon 
him,  and  fixed  her  eyes  upon  some  one 
standing  within  a  few  yards  of  her,  and 
making  his  bow  to  his  hostess.  It  was 
St.  John. 

The  cold  indifference  upon  Mrs.  Je 
rome's  countenance  instantly  thawed  into 
an  expression  animated,  glowing,  beguil 
ing.  Her  fan  continued  to  wave  in  a 
slow,  measured  movement ;  but  her 
dainty  black  satin  slipper  tapped  the  floor 
in  a  kind  of  restless  apprehension.  St. 
John  was  listening  with  quiet  courtesy  to 
the  conventional  remarks  that  were  being 
poured  into  his  ear.  His  usual  grave 
dignity  of  bearing  seemed  especially  pro 
nounced  as  seen  in  the  midst  of  that  bril 
liant,  careless  assemblage,  and  his  hand- 
170 


Florida  Alexander 

some,  dark  face  appeared  very  earnest  and 
thoughtful. 

Mrs.  Jerome's  gaze  grew  intenser, 
more  beseeching.  St.  John  turned  and 
met  her  look.  There  was  a  swift  flutter 
ing  of  the  fan,  then  a  decided  gesture. 
He  spoke  a  few  words  to  his  hostess — a 
girlish-looking  young  matron  of  a  rather 
striking  brunette  type — and  came  for 
ward,  an  amused,  half-indulgent,  half- 
questioning  look  on  his  face.  As  he  ap 
proached,  Mrs.  Jerome  looked  up  with  a 
charming  air  of  proprietorship,  colored 
slightly,  and  dropped  her  eyes.  It  was 
her  moment  of  triumph. 

"At  last!"  she  cried,  in  a  low  but 
penetrating  tone;  "I  thought  you  would 
never  come!" 

Young  Vance  arose  and  offered  his 
chair.  Then  he  walked  across  the  room 
to  where  several  people  were  standing. 

"Do  come  with  me  outside,  Miss  Alex 
ander,"  he  said;  "it  is  stifling  in  these 
rooms.  Please  come!"  and  he  bore  her 
off  with  a  certain  characteristic  audacity, 
171 


Florida  Alexander 

the    little    group    about    her    reluctantly 
giving  way. 

At  the  sound  of  the  name  St.  John 
looked  up  quickly.  A  hot  flush  mounted 
to  his  brow.  Until  that  instant  he  had 
been  ignorant  of  her  nearness,  having 
had  the  impression  that  she  would  not 
arrive  until  later  in  the  evening.  The 
girl's  light  garments  touched  him  when 
she  passed.  He  tried  to  make  her  meet 
his  eyes.  But  the  proud  head  did  not 
once  turn  toward  him ;  she  was  talking 
gayly  with  her  companion,  and  appar 
ently  in  all  unconsciousness.  The  two 
disappeared  in  the  moving  crowd  about 
the  doorway. 

There  was  an  unpleasant  ring  in  the 
laugh  which  sprang  to  Mrs.  Jerome's  lips 
a  moment  afterwards. 

"Mr.  St.  John,"  she  said,  "you  are 
supposed  to  understand  all  things,  more 
or  less;  it  is  your  metier.  I  wish  you 
would  tell  me  one  thing." 

St.  John  lent  himself  rather  constrain 
edly  to  the  conversation. 
172 


Florida  Alexander 

"You  are  modest  in  your  request,  Mrs. 
Jerome,"  he  replied,  "in  view  of  the  un 
limited  knowledge  with  which  you  are 
pleased  to  endow  me." 

The  little  widow  darted  a  swift  glance 
into  his  unresponsive  eyes.  She  was 
quiet  a  moment. 

"  It  is  in  regard  to  Miss  Alexander, ' '  she 
then  said,  serenely,  lifting  a  sweetly  in 
nocent  face  to  his.  "I  had  heard  so  much 
of  her  before  I  came  to  this  place,  and 
since  I  have  been  here  her  name  seems  to 
be  on  every  one's  lips.  But  the  opinions 
I  had  already  formed  from  what  I  had 
heard  concerning  her,  differ  so  widely 
from  the  opinions  of  the  people  here,  I  am 
somewhat  mystified.  Tell  me,"  in  most 
becoming  hesitation,  as  if  the  exquisite 
refinement  of  her  nature  were  suffering 
acutely  because  of  the  question  she  was 
about  to  ask,  "do  you  consider  her — does 
she  strike  you  as  belonging  (to  express  it 
mildly)  to  the  flirtatious  order  of  woman? 
I  should  so  much  like  to  know  if  you 
would  describe  her  as  flirtatious?" 


Florida  Alexander 

"I  should  not  apply  the  term  to  Miss 
Alexander,"  St.  John  answered,  briefly, 
and  in  evident  dislike  of  a  continuation  of 
the  subject. 

Mrs.  Jerome  regarded  him  pensively 
for  a  time. 

"No?"  she  said,  dubiously.  "I  am 
so  glad  to  hear  you  say  that.  I  had  really 
thought  her  very  lovely,  and  yet  you  can 
understand  how  sometimes  just  a  word 
can  create  a  prejudice.  A  woman's 
reputation  is  such  a  delicate  matter  al 
ways.  Above  all  things  I  detest  a  flirt. 
How  any  woman  can  degrade  herself  to 
such  a  low  plane,  I  never  can  under 
stand.  And  that  is  why  I  asked  the 
question;  I  hoped  so  much  that  the 
things  I  heard  before  I  came  here — one 
thing  in  particular — could  not  be  true." 

St.  John's  eyes  rested  coldly,  but  with 
out  comment  upon  her.  A  slow,  fierce, 
terrible  wave  of  anger  was  rising  within 
him,  but  he  was  able  to  keep  an  outward 
control.  Stung  to  the  heart  by  the  ma 
licious  cruelty  of  her  words,  and  despising 
174 


Florida  Alexander 

himself  that  for  one  instant  he  should  be 
thus  disturbed,  he  managed  to  say  with 
quiet  positiveness: 

"It  is  impossible  that  any  one  could 
speak  evil  of  her,  and  speak  the  truth." 

"Really?  I  am  so  very  glad.  I  have 
a  friend  who  was  one  summer  at  the  sea 
shore  where  Miss  Alexander  was  making 
herself  somewhat  conspicuous  by  ruth 
lessly  ensnaring  all  the  other  girls'  lovers, 
and  then  coolly  disdaining  the  poor  men 
at  last.  She  seemed  simply  to  revel  in 
her  power.  One  case  in  particular  my 
friend  quite  dwelt  upon,"  laughed  Mrs. 
Jerome.  "A  young  man,  who  had  come 
to  the  place  to  see  his  fiancee,  happened 
to  meet  Miss  Alexander  at  a  cotillion. 
The  usual  result  followed,  but  with  rather 
a  more  exciting  finale  than  generally  at 
tended  Miss  Alexander's  conquests.  Of 
course,  there  may  be  no  truth  at  all  in 
the  story — but  according  to  my  friend — ' ' 

St.  John  arose  stiffly ;  his  face  was 
stern  and  white  with  suppressed  emotion. 

' '  Pardon  me, ' '  he  said  ;  ' '  my  friendship 
'75 


Florida  Alexander 

for  Miss  Alexander  is  such  that  I  must 
ask  you  to  excuse  me  from  discussing  her 
further,  especially  in  such  a  relation. 
There  can  be  no  question  that  you  have 
confused  her  in  your  thoughts  with  some 
other  person,  totally  unlike  her." 

Mrs.  Jerome  flushed  scarlet.  For  the 
first  time  it  had  clearly  dawned  upon  her 
that  she  had  blundered  in  her  eagerness 
to  make  a  discovery  as  well  as  to  strike 
a  resentful  blow.  And  the  discovery  had 
been  complete.  The  loyalty,  the  un 
swerving  faith,  the  high  devotion  which 
shone  from  the  man's  set  face  rebuked 
her  to  silence,  while  it  awoke  within  her 
vague  stirrings  of  reverence  for  some 
thing  which  she  could  only  dimly  com 
prehend.  She  had  played  for  high 
stakes,  and  thus  far  she  had  lost.  But 
she  was  not  yet  ready  to  admit  that  the 
game  was  at  an  end.  With  the  reckless 
ness  of  despair,  she  proceeded  to  make 
the  most  of  the  resources  at  her  com 
mand. 

Quickly  recovering  from  her  mortifica- 
176 


Florida  Alexander 

tion,  she  assumed  an  expression  of  guile 
less  unconcern.  If  it  was  true  that  by 
that  audacious  stroke  she  had  only  more 
tightly  riveted  the  chains  that  bound 
him,  perhaps  even  yet  he  might  be  made 
to  recognize  her  strength. 

' '  Of  course  I  have  made  a  mistake, ' '  she 
admitted,  adroitly; — "now  that  I  think 
of  it  I  believe  the  name  was  not  Alexan 
der,  but  something  a  little  like  it — Allen- 
der — Allison — Anderson — I  quite  forget ; 
some  other  beautiful  Kentucky  girl  no 
doubt.  There  are  so  many.  The  fact 
is,  I  paid  very  little  attention  to  the 
story;  that  kind  of  gossip  does  not  at  all 
interest  me;  chacun  a  son  godt."  Mrs. 
Jerome  had  not  had  sufficient  opportun 
ity  to  know  that  the  adored  upper  circles 
no  longer  make  use  in  their  conversation 
of  odious  little  French  phrases  execrably 
pronounced. 

She  sprang  cheerfully  to  her  feet,  giv 
ing  a  surprised  glance  about  the  room. 
Every  one  had  gone  outside.  She  lifted 
a  helpless,  rueful  face  to  his,  and  then 
177 


Florida  Alexander 

broke    into     a     low,     gleefully     exultant 
laugh. 

"You  see  you  can't  desert  me,"  she 
cried,  as  she  quietly  slipped  her  arm  in 
his.  "Come!  I  know  the  loveliest  little 
moonlit  arbor,  and  we  can  be  quite 
alone." 


178 


XII 

It  was  more  than  an  hour  later  before 
he  succeeded  in  making  his  escape;  Mrs. 
Jerome  was  not  a  woman  to  be  easily 
thwarted  in  her  design,  and  her  design 
had  been  as  firmly  fixed  as  it  was  little  to 
be  respected.  But  whatever  passed  be 
tween  the  two  upon  that  occasion  must 
have  been  sufficient,  so  far  at  least  as  she 
herself  was  concerned  in  the  matter,  to 
carry  the  weight  of  a  salutary  conviction  ; 
for  she  appeared  to  realize  at  the  last  that 
forever  afterward  there  must  remain  one 
man  for  whom  her  coquetries  could  not 
be  displayed. 

In  every  summer  there  is  one  perfect 
day — a  day  in  which  Nature,  having 
reached  the  height  of  her  beneficence, 
seems  to  riot  in  her  own  excess,  and  with 
almost  reckless  prodigality  to  exclaim : 
179 


Florida  Alexander 

"Here,  I  give  you  all."  And  to  the 
night  that  follows  such  a  day  belongs 
especially  that  melancholy  touch  of  mys 
tery,  rapturous,  prophetic,  which  pierces 
the  heart  and  thrills  the  senses  to  such 
unspeakable  things.  St.  John  stood  for 
some  moments  alone,  looking  down  the 
dim  vistas  of  the  moonlit  park.  It  was 
an  enchanted  hour.  The  leaves  of  the 
great  elms  were  throwing  tremulous 
shadows  across  the  sward,  and  the  wind 
was  sighing  in  the  low  branches,  with 
now  and  again  a  brief,  palpitating  note 
of  sadness  that  was  yet  sweet  and  insist 
ent  as  the  whisper  of  a  lover. 

Here  and  there  under  the  trees  gay 
groups  were  seated,  the  garments  of  the 
women  gleaming  softly  lustrous  in  the 
silvery  light.  But  the  laughter  that 
floated  to  him  from  time  to  time  was  like 
the  laughter  we  hear  in  dreams.  Some 
where  in  the  distance  a  band  was  playing, 
and  on  the  platform  that  had  been  erected 
he  caught  glimpses  of  figures  moving 
rhythmically  to  the  music;  and  these, 
i  So 


Florida  Alexander 

too,  seemed  to  take  on  an  element  of  un 
reality.  There  was  an  odd  surging  in  his 
brain  and  a  ceaseless  hammering  against 
his  temples  that  made  it  difficult  for  him 
to  think. 

Faint  as  was  the  impression  made  upon 
him  by  the  slanderous  words  to  which  he 
had  been  compelled  to  listen,  yet,  in  a 
way  totally  different  from  what  had  been 
intended,  they  had  roused  in  him  a  storm 
of  emotion,  which  only  his  mighty  self- 
command  had  enabled  him  to  conceal. 

Perhaps  never  until  that  moment  did 
he  fully  realize  to  what  extent  a  man's 
destiny  may  rest  in  the  keeping  of  a 
woman,  and  know  how  powerful  was  the 
hold  Florida  had  taken  upon  his  life. 

It  had  not  been  bis  desire  that  there 
should  be  anything  hasty  or  impulsive  in 
his  manner  of  revealing  to  her  what  he 
felt ;  he  was  not  impetuous,  and  he  was 
by  no  means  sure  that  their  last  meeting 
had  brought  her  any  nearer  to  him. 
Furthermore,  the  extreme  sensitiveness 
of  his  nature  caused  him  to  shrink  a  little 
181 


Florida  Alexander 

from  disclosing,  even  to  her,  that  inmost 
holy  of  holies  which  he  himself  could  not 
look  upon  but  with  a  certain  awe  and 
reverence,  until  there  had  come  to  him 
some  assurance  that  what  he  offered 
would  not  be  despised.  But  since  the 
moment  that  those  hateful  words  of  def 
amation  had  rung  in  his  ears,  he  had 
never  for  one  instant  hesitated  as  to  the 
course  he  should  pursue.  He  felt  that 
he  must  go  to  her  now,  this  very  night,  or 
else  be  untrue  to  himself.  The  deter 
mination  held  him  in  an  iron  grasp ;  he 
felt  it  to  be  the  supreme  hour  of  his  ex 
istence.  And  gradually  there  stole  over 
his  spirit  the  exalted  calm  of  a  high  pur 
pose,  and  his  countenance  became  trans 
figured  as  by  some  wondrous  inward  light. 
Where  would  he  find  her?  He  stood 
for  a  time  uncertain,  then  walked  quickly 
down  the  moon-flecked  avenue.  But  she 
was  not  among  the  dancers,  and  she  was 
not  with  any  of  the  people  he  passed. 
He  searched  for  her  long,  in  every  direc 
tion,  and  in  vain.  Perhaps  she  had  grown 
182 


Florida  Alexander 

weary  and  gone.  A  sudden  thought 
stabbed  him  and  brought  him  to  a  halt. 
Might  she  not  have  become  disgusted  in 
witnessing  the  exaggeration  of  Mrs.  Je 
rome's  too  familiar  welcome?  His  nature 
was  distinctly  simple  and  sincere;  he 
knew  but  little  of  women,  but  he  felt 
intuitively  that  the  best  of  women  may 
sometimes  be  unjust. 

There  was  but  one  other  place  where 
it  was  likely  she  might  be.  He  recalled 
that  in  a  distant  part  of  the  grounds  there 
was  a  miniature  lake  overhung  by  willows 
— a  delightful  spot.  If  only  he  should 
find  her  there ! 

But  on  reaching  the  place,  again  he 
was  disappointed.  The  retreat  appeared 
entirely  deserted.  A  delicate  mist  had 
begun  to  rise.  The  air  was  heavy  with 
the  dank  odors  of  wild  grasses  and  of 
the  marshy  soil.  Only  the  hoarse  voices 
of  the  frogs  mingling  with  the  staccato 
notes  of  katydid  and  cricket  broke  the 
stillness.  He  sat  down  on  a  rustic  bench 
not  far  from  a  tiny  bridge  which  over- 
183 


Florida  Alexander 

looked  the  water.  It  was  evident  that 
she  was  not  to  be  found. 

He  had,  however,  been  here  only  a 
short  while  when  there  began  to  steal 
over  him  that  peculiar  sensation  which 
tells  one  he  is  not  alone — the  vague  con 
sciousness  that  suggests  the  near  presence 
of  another  human  being,  invisible  yet 
most  vitally  real.  But  when  his  eyes 
again  searched  the  obscurity  about  him, 
he  could  find  no  one.  Presently,  in  rest 
lessly  shifting  his  position,  he  saw  a  shaft 
of  moonlight  shoot  like  a  star  through  the 
thick  trees  and  fall  slanting  upon  a  white, 
motionless  figure,  half-concealed  by  the 
mist,  on  the  far  side  of  the  bridge. 

He  rose  quickly.  His  heart  stood  still 
for  an  instant,  and  then  began  to  throb 
painfully;  the  pose  was  unmistakable. 
And  even  in  that  moment  he  was  sensible 
of  a  thrill  of  satisfaction  in  the  mere  out 
ward  perfection,  the  thorough  high-breed 
ing  that  could  give  so  marked  an  individ 
uality. 

Florida  was  seated  upon  the  stone  steps 
184 


Florida  Alexander 

of  the  bridge,  her  head  resting  against  the 
slender  parapet.  Though  she  appeared 
to  be  looking  intently  in  his  direction, 
she  did  not  speak  nor  stir  when  St.  John 
started  toward  her. 

He  moved  a  few  steps  forward,  then 
paused  abruptly.  In  another  moment  he 
was  to  stand  before  the  woman  he  loved 
to  offer  the  highest  that  was  in  him,  the 
best  that  was  his  to  bestow;  and  as  the 
full  meaning  of  it  all  rushed  upon  him, 
along  with  the  joy  of  this  realization  was 
the  gravity  of  the  conviction  that  whatever 
her  answer  might  be,  life  for  him  hence 
forth  could  never,  never  be  as  it  had  been. 

There  was  an  almost  religious  reverence 
in  his  manner  when  he  approached  her; 
and  as  he  stood  looking  down  upon  her, 
for  an  instant  unable  to  speak,  something 
seemed  to  reveal  to  her  the  nature  of  the 
words  that  were  trembling  on  his  lips. 
She  drew  back  a  little  into  the  shadow, 
shrinking  visibly  from  what  his  expression 
told  her.  There  was  the  look  of  a  star 
tled  deer  in  her  brown  eyes. 
'85 


Florida  Alexander 

The  moonlight  fell  upon  his  face,  and 
she  saw  the  spasm  of  pain  that  swept 
across  his  features  at  her  silent,  involun 
tary  protest.  But  immediately  he  had 
seemed  to  wrap  himself  in  the  stern 
quietude  of  one  whose  purpose  is  unal 
terably  fixed. 

She  recovered  herself  with  an  effort ;  a 
smile  flickered  about  her  mouth  and  was 
gone,  leaving  the  muscles  strained  and 
suffering. 

"Have  you  also  become  'a  companion 
to  owls?'  "  she  asked,  in  some  constraint. 
She  would  not  meet  his  eyes,  and  again 
her  nervous  withdrawal  from  him  pierced 
him  like  a  spear. 

He  did  not  try  to  answer;  he  had  not 
any  words.  He  only  moved  a  little 
nearer  to  her;  and  then  the  passion  that 
was  in  him  got  the  better  of  his  long  con 
trol. 

All  at  once  he  reached  forth  his  hands 
and  caught  both  of  her  own  in  his,  almost 
crushing  them  in  his  strong  grasp. 

"Florida!  Florida!"  he  cried,  his 
186 


Florida  Alexander 

whole  nature  seeming  to  lend  itself  to 
that  brief,  ungovernable  outbreak.  But 
in  another  moment  he  went  on  more 
calmly : 

"You  will  hear  me — you  will  let  me 
tell  you  what  has  been  so  long  in  my 
heart.  Ah — you  must  hear  me!" 

She  had  drawn  away  her  hands.  They 
were  cold  and  trembling,  and  he  could 
hear  her  heavy  sob-like  breathing;  but 
there  was  nothing  of  resentment,  nothing 
of  wounded  pride,  only  a  dumb,  beseech 
ing  agony  in  her  eyes.  He  was  moved 
to  a  swift  contrition. 

"Forgive  me,"  he  whispered,  huskily. 
"I  was  too  hasty;  I  should  have  given 
you  time.  But,  oh,  you  cannot  know 
all  the  things  that  have  driven  me  to  you 
to-night.  I  had  sought  you  everywhere, 
but  I  felt  intuitively  that  I  should  find 
you  here.  I  knew  that  there  could  be 
no  peace,  no  rest  for  me  until  you  had 
looked  into  my  heart  and  read  what  is 
there  for  you.  Believe  me  I  have  never 
spoken  to  any  other  being  as  I  wish  now 
187 


Florida  Alexander 

to  speak  to  you.  I  am  ready  to  disclose 
the  inmost  recesses  of  my  soul — and  there 
is  nothing,  nothing  that  I  could  desire  to 
keep  back  from  you.  My  life,  my  fu 
ture,  my  work,  my  every  hope — all,  all 
are  yours  to  do  with  as  you  will." 

He  paused  a  moment,  and  then  added 
in  a  low  voice : 

"I  have  dreamed  of  such  love  as  this — 
the  love  that  I  should  give  to  that  only 
one  whose  nature  should  be  as  spotless  as 
your  nature  has  revealed  itself  to  me,  and 
whose  capacity  for  loving  should  be  as 
boundless  as  I  have  always  felt  was  yours. 
And  had  you  been  less  perfect  than  I 
have  found  you  to  be,  whatever  would 
have  been  the  feeling  that  I  had  given 
you,  it  could  not  have  been  love.  It  is 
the  passionate  purity " 

She  put  up  her  hands  quickly  to  her 
breast,  and  he  halted  suddenly.  What 
was  the  meaning  of  that  strange  look  she 
bent  upon  him? 

Her  lips  were  slightly  parted,  and  they 
were  dry  and  parched  as  if  scorched  with 
i  S3 


Florida  Alexander 

flame.  Her  wide  eyes  were  fixed  upon 
his  face  with  an  indescribable  expression 
of  compassion  and  entreaty.  She  sprang 
to  her  feet,  and  ran  a  little  distance  up 
the  bank.  But  he  was  at  her  side  at  once. 

"What  would  life  be  to  me  without 
you  now?  Florida — oh,  my  love — my 
very  life!"  His  voice  broke  with  dread 
and  longing. 

The  man's  white  face  near  her  own  be 
trayed  the  anguish  of  his  suspense.  For 
one  instant  her  eyes  met  his. 

"God  forgive  me  that  I  must  make  you 
suffer  so,"  she  muttered  slowly,  at  last; 
"I  can  never  forgive  myself." 

"But  why — why  need  we  suffer? — both 
of  us  as  we  do?"  he  cried  in  savage  re 
bellion.  But  his  heart  was  a  leaden 
weight  within  him,  and  the  words  rang 
out  hollow  and  desolate  into  the  darkness. 

She  was  standing  a  few  feet  above  him 
on  the  rising  ground ;  and  as  he  looked 
up  into  her  face,  the  white  mist  closing 
about  her  and  seeming  to  bear  her  as  on 
a  cloud  from  his  sight,  there  was  that  in 


Florida  Alexander 

her  manner  which  wholly  confirmed  the 
despair  that  had  entered  his  soul. 

His  arms  fell  limply  to  his  sides.  He 
half  turned  away  that  she  might  not  see 
the  anguish  he  knew  must  be  written  in 
his  face.  He  was  utterly  hopeless — con 
vinced  that  pity  was  all  that  she  could 
ever  give  him. 

"Farewell,"  she  whispered,  tremulous 
ly,  the  words  seeming  to  breathe  them 
selves  upon  him  like  a  sigh  from  the 
woeful  willows.  But  he  could  not  speak. 
He  stood  with  bowed  head,  waiting  for 
her  to  go. 

About  them  was  the  sad  mystery  of  the 
summer  night.  From  down  by  the  water, 
like  the  fateful,  recurring  note  of  a  bass- 
viol,  came  the  grave  voices  of  the  frogs. 

With  a  smothered  sob,  she  drew  a  step 
nearer.  As  by  an  uncontrollable  im 
pulse,  her  form  seemed  to  sway  for  an 
instant  toward  him;  then  she  bent 
quickly  down,  and  lightly  as  falls  a  rose- 
leaf  to  the  earth,  her  lips  touched  his  brow. 

When  he  lifted  his  head  she  was  gone. 
190 


XIII 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  which  occurred  on  the  follow 
ing  Thursday  morning,  St.  John  went 
before  that  body  and  formally  tendered 
his  resignation  of  the  professorship  he 
held  in  the  State  College  at  Lexington. 

He  stated  briefly,  in  explanation,  that 
certain  recent  alterations  in  his  affairs 
would  necessitate  his  living  elsewhere  in 
the  future;  and  after  expressing  a  cor 
dial  appreciation  of  the  uniform  generos 
ity  he  had  received  from  all  persons 
officially  connected  with  the  college, 
asked  that  he  be  allowed  to  offer  such  aid 
as  was  in  his  power  toward  the  satisfac 
tory  filling  of  the  chair  left  vacant  by  his 
somewhat  unseasonable  abdication. 

His  conscientious  manner  of  discharg 
ing  the  duties  he  had  assumed,  his  high 
191 


Florida  Alexander 

scholarship  and  inspiring  influence  over 
his  pupils  had  caused  his  services  to  be 
regarded  as  especially  valuable.  It  was 
with  evidences  of  genuine  regret  that  his 
resignation  was  finally  accepted.  But 
something  in  the  quiet  dignity  of  the 
young  man  compelled  the  belief  that  his 
action  in  the  matter  was  unavoidable,  and 
in  the  few  farewell  words  he  forced  him 
self  to  speak  there  was  the  throbbing 
note  of  a  sorrow  so  deep  and  private  as 
to  render  all  further  flattering  suggestion 
of  a  reconsideration  of  the  step  wholly 
out  of  taste. 

He  experienced  a  grateful  sense  of  re 
lief  when  he  was  at  last  permitted  to 
withdraw.  The  outward  calm  he  had 
manifested  from  the  first  was  beginning 
to  give  way  a  little  under  the  warmth  of 
the  courteous  Southern  kindness  he  had 
just  received.  Profoundly  touched,  he 
stood  for  some  moments  in  one  of  the 
wide  doorways  looking  down,  with  sad 
dened  eyes,  upon  the  broad  campus,  and 
seeming  to  see  his  own  lonely  future 
192 


Florida  Alexander 

stretching  out  before  him  in  the  far-dis 
tant  horizon.  Then  he  walked  slowly 
down  the  long  flight  of  steps,  pausing 
again,  when  he  had  gone  only  a  few 
yards  from  the  building.  Never  had  the 
extensive  grounds  surrounding  the  college 
appeared  more  beautiful. 

Beneath  his  feet  was  the  rich  velvet  of 
the  incomparable  bluegrass ;  overhead 
the  glowing  sapphire  of  the  Kentucky 
skies.  The  perfume  of  many  flowers  was 
in  the  air.  There  was  an  almost  blind 
ing  splendor  in  the  fall  of  the  happy 
sunlight.  And  yet,  from  on  every  hand 
— vague  antepast  of  death — came  that 
faint,  persistent  hint  of  decline  which 
sometimes  makes  itself  felt  even  in  mid 
summer.  To  St.  John  the  suggestion 
was  prophetic.  He  could  only  believe 
that  for  him  the  summer  of  life  was 
ended,  and  that  the  autumn  had  now  pre 
maturely  begun. 

His  eyes  wandered  away  toward  the 
edge  of  the  town  and  to  the  plenteous 
fields  and  timbered  country  that  lay  be- 
193 


Florida  Alexander 

yond.  He  had  grown  strongly  attached 
to  the  view.  Often  on  clear  winter  after 
noons,  having  been  detained  until  nearly 
sunset  at  the  college,  he  had  stood  looking 
wistfully  out  upon  that  picturesque  land 
scape  with  blended  emotions  of  loneliness 
and  delight.  And  in  those  moments 
there  was  often  in  his  heart  something  of 
the  same  warm  and  tender  devotion  that 
the  inhabitants  of  this  region  give  to  their 
soil;  for  he  had  soon  ceased  to  think  of 
himself  as  a  sojourner  merely. 

Here,  in  healthful,  pleasant  work — 
every  year  bringing  to  him  a  broader  de 
velopment  of  his  powers,  the  securer 
acquisition  of  friends — he  had  hoped  to 
spend  much  of  his  life.  But  in  the  deep 
melancholy  that  possessed  him  now 
through  the  contemplation  of  his  broken 
dreams  and  interrupted  plans  there  was 
no  bitterness,  no  reproach. 

Knowing  that  it  was  for  the  last  time, 

presently  he  turned  and  walked  briskly  to 

the   gate ;    and    the   silken    rustle   of  the 

maples  was   like  a  sigh  of   farewell   in  his 

194 


Florida  Alexander 

ears.  But  there  was  only  a  look  of  quiet 
renunciation  upon  his  features,  when  he 
set  his  face  steadfastly  toward  the  town. 

There  were  a  number  of  people  whom 
he  wished  to  see  before  leaving,  and  he 
proceeded  to  seek  these  at  once.  All 
the  morning  the  necessity  of  calling  at  the 
Alexanders'  had  weighed  heavily  upon 
him.  But  on  reaching  the  house  he 
found  no  one  at  home.  When  he  heard 
the  final  click  of  the  iron  gate  behind 
him,  he  brought  his  teeth  tightly  to 
gether  for  an  instant ;  then,  without  an 
other  backward  glance,  he  went  rapidly 
up  the  street. 

He  spent  the  next  two  or  three  hours 
carefully  packing  his  books  in  order  that 
they  might  be  sent  to  him  without  dam 
age  later  on.  His  lease  upon  the  cot 
tage  would  not  expire  for  several  months, 
and  he  decided  to  leave  his  belongings 
where  they  were,  until  his  plans  had  be 
come  more  definite.  For  the  present,  he 
was  possessed  of  but  one  wish,  and  that 
was  to  get  away  as  soon  as  possible, 
195 


Florida  Alexander 

though  he  well  knew  that  he  could  not 
thus  escape  the  fierce  pain  with  which  he 
had  wrestled  through  all  the  dark  hours 
of  the  previous  three  days  and  nights. 
That  he  would  surely  carry  with  him,  for 
he  fully  realized  that  with  him  it  could 
only  end  with  life ;  but  if  he  must  suffer 
he  was  resolved  that  he  would  not  suffer 
weakly.  In  the  resistance  he  was  mak 
ing  there  was  something  more  than  a 
man's  instinctive  combativeness.  A  cer 
tain  sternness  was  stamped  upon  his  fea 
tures  as  he  bent  above  his  books.  Never 
once  had  it  occurred  to  him  to  abandon 
the  fight.  Life  for  him  had  been  made 
up  of  disappointments,  small  and  great, 
and  the  last  and  greatest  of  disappoint 
ments  must  only  be  endured  with  the 
same  calmness  with  which  he  had  shown 
himself  capable  of  meeting  all  misfortune. 
But  by  means  of  solitude  and  study  and 
persistent  struggle  he  was  determined  to 
do  what  he  could  toward  regaining  the 
tranquillity  of  spirit  he  had  lost ;  and  by 
thus  retiring  into  himself  he  felt  assured 
196 


Florida  Alexander 

that  peace  would  come  to  him — some 
kind  of  peace  at  least.  And  though  he 
had  thought  much  and  knew  many  things 
he  had  yet  to  learn  that  love  is  real,  un 
satisfied  though  it  may  be,  implies  a  bless 
ing  by  its  mere  existence,  and  that  not  to 
any  man  did  peace  ever  come  through  a 
stoical  endurance  of  fate. 

For  a  few  days  after  St.  John's  depar 
ture  his  name  was  on  everybody's  lips, 
and  then  a  lethargic  indifference  to  all 
matters  not  of  an  immediate  personal 
concern  settled  upon  the  old  town  with 
the  coming  of  the  intensely  warm 
weather,  and  apparently  he  was  forgotten. 

Mrs.  Alexander,  hearing  that  he  had  left 
abruptly  and  with  but  little  apology,  put 
her  own  construction  upon  the  proceed 
ing.  While  still  steadfastly  insisting  that 
for  her  own  part  she  could  see  but  little  in 
the  young  man  to  admire,  she  manifested 
her  displeasure  in  his  sudden  exit  by  such 
a  cold  disapproval  of  her  stepdaughter  as 
would  have  rendered  that  young  woman 
most  uncomfortable,  had  Florida  not  been 
197 


Florida  Alexander 

sustained  through  the  ordeal  by  a  certain 
humorous  appreciation  which  often  forced 
the  amusing  side  of  a  situation  upon  her 
in  the  midst  of  actual  suffering.  Fur 
thermore,  there  occurred  a  slight  cessa 
tion  of  hostilities,  through  the  distrac 
tions  of  a  preparation;  for  Mrs.  Alexan 
der  had  decided  that  she  would  take  the 
little  girls  and  go  for  a  month's  visit  to 
the  seashore. 

"It  is  such  an  excellent  opportunity, 
now  that  you  are  here  to  look  after  your 
father,"  she  declared,  on  the  morning  of 
her  journey,  to  Florida,  who  was  assist 
ing  in  the  packing  of  sundry  delicately 
fine  garments,  which  Mrs.  Alexander 
was  unwilling  to  entrust  to  a  servant. 
"The  children  look  as  if  they  needed  a 
change,  and  the  place  has  grown  insup- 
portably  dull.  Not  a  ripple  of  excite 
ment  since  the  strange  departure  of  that 
unsatisfactory  young  man,"  as  she  now 
designated  St.  John,  "until  last  night's 
announcement  of  the  engagement  of  that 
odious  Mrs.  Jerome  to  old  Colonel  Rufus 
198 


Florida  Alexander 

Henry.  It  is  impossible  to  understand 
what  attraction  he  finds  in  the  little 
creature  with  her  turned-up  nose  and 
freckled  face." 

Mrs.  Alexander  drew  a  step  nearer  to 
the  mirror,  and  surveyed  her  full-length 
reflection  with  complacency.  She 
thought  the  bows  of  light  blue  velvet  rib 
bon  upon  her  white  silk  morning-gown  a 
trifle  too  far  apart.  She  turned  her  dark 
head  with  its  elaborate  arrangement  of 
coils  and  curls  slightly  to  one  side.  "The 
fact  is,"  she  concluded  nonchalantly,  "as 
you  may  have  heard  me  remark  before,  I 
only  care  for  a  classic  style  of  beauty." 

"It  is  much  to  be  preferred,"  assented 
Florida,  not  looking  up  from  the  crim 
son  brocade  she  was  carefully  folding. 

"It  is  true  the  woman  is  rather — rather 
plump,  perhaps.  I  grant  her  that.  Thin 
ness  is  fatal.  You  really  ought  to  take 
a  tonic,  my  dear,"  said  Mrs.  Alexander. 

"Thank  you  for  the  suggestion;  but  I 
don't    think    I     need    a    tonic,"    replied 
Florida,  quite  amiably. 
199 


Florida  Alexander 

"But  you  are  distressingly  thin;  but 
for  that  pink  gown  you  have  on  you 
would  be  ashen,  positively  ashen,"  in 
sisted  Mrs.  Alexander.  "And  you  have 
lost  much  of  your  vivacity.  They  say 
that  Wampole's  cod  liver  oil  is  an  excel 
lent  cure  for  the  kind  of  morbidness  that 
seems  to  be  wearing  upon  you.  Really, 
if  you  had  been  taking  Wampole's  cod 
liver  oil  for  the  past  three  months,  I  am 
quite  sure  that  that  young  man  would 
never  have  been  able  to  tear  himself 
away.  However,  it  is  just  possible  that 
he  may  return." 

Florida  dropped  the  waist  of  the  crim 
son  brocade  with  a  comical  smile  of  sur 
render.  At  first  her  shoulders  heaved 
convulsively,  as  if  she  were  struggling  to 
enchain  the  merriment  that  was  bubbling 
up  within  her,  then  her  laughter  broke 
loose,  and  peal  upon  peal  echoed  through 
the  room  in  such  a  quick  transition  from 
sadness  to  mirth  that  Mrs.  Alexander 
stood  amazed. 

"It  is  your  French  blood,  I  suppose, 


Florida  Alexander 

my  dear,"  the  elder  woman  remarked 
dryly,  with  a  shrug  of  her  ample  shoul 
ders,  as  soon  as  she  had  recovered  from 
her  surprise.  "But  if  I  may  venture  to 
advise,  I  think  it  would  be  well  for  you 
to  cultivate  a  greater  evenness  of  manner 
in  the  future.  Such  a  hilarious  mani 
festation  as  you  have  just  indulged  in 
could  never  be  regarded  as  good  form.  I 
must  ask  your  father  to  keep  you  re 
minded  during  my  absence  of  certain  lit 
tle  faults  to  which  you  seem  especially 
prone,  and  which  every  one  should  guard 
against." 

But  the  Major  had  no  intention  of 
exercising  his  authority  toward  the  de 
velopment  of  an  improved  decorum  on 
the  part  of  his  daughter.  He  was  en 
tirely  satisfied  that  her  breeding  was 
perfect  in  every  particular.  But  having 
taken  firm  grasp  upon  the  idea  that  her 
failure  to  read  good  books  was  the  whole 
cause  of  whatever  mental  uneasiness  he 
discovered  in  the  girl,  for  a  considerable 
time  he  had  set  himself  to  work  to  bring 


Florida  Alexander 

about  a  reformation  in  the  direction  of  a 
higher  literary  standard. 

Accordingly,  he  continued  to  spend 
hours  with  her  every  day,  reading  aloud 
from  his  favorite  authors,  and  calling  her 
especial  attention  to  such  passages  as  he 
wished  to  take  root  in  her  thoughts.  She 
had  proved  herself  to  be  an  excellent 
Greek  and  Latin  scholar,  even  from  his 
exacting  standpoint,  and  he  was  often 
astounded  by  her  cleverness  of  insight  as 
well  as  her  picturesque  rendering  of  the 
text. 

These  morning  hours  of  study  were 
somewhat  lengthened  now  that  the  old 
house  was  so  unusually  quiet;  and  Flor 
ida  seemed  to  yield  with  ready  acquies 
cence  to  his  plans,  her  trained  powers  of 
concentration  thus  affording  her  a  brief 
respite  from  much  that  she  was  trying  to 
forget.  But  the  afternoons  she  always 
gave  to  Tim.  Nothing  was  ever  allowed 
to  interfere  with  the  time  she  had  ap 
pointed  for  the  little  fellow's  instruction 
and  amusement.  And  perhaps  to  no  one 


Florida  Alexander 

else  did  she  so  unguardedly  reveal  herself 
in  the  long  summer  days  that  followed. 

The  wild  gayety  that  so  often  possessed 
her  now  seemed  to  cause  the  boy  a  pain 
ful  perplexity  at  times.  His  expression 
would  grow  grave  and  wondering,  and  he 
would  suddenly  pause  and  look  search- 
ingly  into  her  face,  startled,  mystified, 
and  sorely  troubled  by  something  in  her 
manner  he  was  unable  to  comprehend. 
The  strange  brilliancy  of  her  aspect,  her 
laughing  speech,  which  had  in  it  a  note 
of  wildness,  seemed  to  give  him  an  odd, 
creeping  sensation  that  was  almost  akin 
to  fear. 

One  rainy  afternoon  she  had  been  en 
tertaining  him  by  explaining  the  game  of 
battledoor  and  shuttlecock  in  the  long 
hall. 

He  could  scarcely  attempt  to  play, 
fascinated  as  he  was  by  the  lightness  and 
dexterity  of  her  movements.  Now  and 
again,  she  broke  into  a  spirited  jest,  chid 
ing  him  for  his  awkwardness,  and  a  gleam 
like  the  scintillation  of  a  jewel  shone  in 
203 


Florida  Alexander 

her  dark  eyes.  All  at  once,  as  she  darted 
past  him,  her  lithe  form  bending  in  sinu 
ous  curves,  her  red  lips  parted  and  smil 
ing,  Tim  caught  her  timidly  by  the  skirts. 

"Be  you  a  witch?"  he  cried,  in  a  be 
wildered,  frightened  tone.  "I  hearn  tell 
o'  them." 

Florida  paused  instantly,  and  her  face 
changed.  She  stood  looking  down  upon 
him  for  a  moment  in  silence,  and  then 
slowly,  sorrowfully,  as  if  the  words  were 
being  wrung  from  her  against  her  will  by 
the  child's  demanding  gaze,  she  said 
softly : 

"No,  Tim,  I  am  not  a  witch;  I  am 
only  the  most  miserable  woman  in  all  this 
sad,  sad  world!" 


204 


XIV 

Summer  had  given  way  so  noiselessly  to 
autumn,  Florida  scarcely  realized  the  vari 
ation,  preoccupied  as  she  had  been,  until 
she  suddenly  awoke  to  find  the  Kentucky 
woodlands  touched  with  a  royal  splendor 
and  the  sumac  and  golden-rod  abloom  on 
the  roadsides. 

She  had  been  spending  a  week  at  the 
country-place  of  a  friend,  and  one  serene 
afternoon  she  was  driving  home  alone  in 
the  lumbering  family-coach  which  had 
been  sent  out  for  her,  when,  for  the  first 
time  in  months  the  beauty  of  the  earth 
seemed  to  make  its  old  appeal.  For  the 
moment,  all  the  lost  glory  had  returned 
with  the  lovely  light  of  the  mild  autumnal 
haze. 

Uncle  Abram  shook  his  head  in  rueful 
recollection  of  his  unfinished  labors  at  her 
repeated  insistence  that  he  should  slacken 
205 


Florida  Alexander 

his  speed  in  order  that  she  might  enjoy 
the  drive  to  the  utmost.  The  cool  breeze 
wafted  pungent  odors  of  walnuts  and 
wild-grapes  through  the  open  carriage 
windows.  Picturesque  hay-ricks  dotted 
the  landscape,  and  here  and  there  in  the 
mellow  sunshine  laborers  were  cutting  the 
dry  corn-stalks  and  stacking  them  into 
conical  heaps  in  the  peaceful  fields,  the 
voices  of  the  men  ringing  out  blithe  and 
clear  upon  the  frosty  air.  Sometimes  a 
tuneful  negro  melody,  with  its  pathetic 
minor  strain — sad  hint  of  a  former  thral 
dom  dumbly  endured — fell  upon  the  ear. 
And  now  and  then  the  eye  was  caught 
by  the  blue  smoke  of  a  distant  dwelling, 
and  there  came  the  thought  of  cheerful 
hearthstones  and  of  those  dear  human  ties 
which  mean  the  best  of  our  existence  here. 

Florida's  face  was  rosy  under  her 
broad,  black-plumed  hat,  and  there  was 
a  healthful  sparkle  in  her  eyes  wholly  un 
like  the  fitful  gleam  which  had  sometimes 
startled  little  Tim. 

All  day  there  had  been  over  her  an 
206 


Florida  Alexander 

unusual  sense  of  anticipation,  and  she 
was  conscious  of  an  exhilaration  of  spirits 
she  was  at  a  loss  to  account  for.  But 
often,  during  the  weeks  of  tremendous 
agitation  that  followed,  her  mind  traveled 
back  to  that  drive  in  the  benign  autumn 
sunlight,  and  she  thought  that  she  un 
derstood. 

On  reaching  the  gate  of  her  home,  her 
buoyancy  was  suddenly  altered  to  a  sharp 
foreboding.  The  children,  who  had  been 
flattening  their  noses  against  the  nursery 
window  in  evident  impatience  for  her  ar 
rival,  ran  frantically  down  the  stairs  the 
instant  they  caught  sight  of  the  carriage, 
and  now  came  hurrying  toward  her  out 
upon  the  lawn,  their  little  dark  faces  seri 
ous  with  the  importance  of  a  grave  com 
munication. 

If  some  evil  had  befallen  her  father — if 
he  should  be  ill!  Florida's  heart  sank 
with  apprehension.  She  descended 
quickly  from  the  carriage,  and  then  stood 
waiting  for  the  children  to  approach,  un 
able  to  move  another  step. 
207 


Florida  Alexander 

"I  bid  to  tell  her,  I  bid  to  tell  her," 
shouted  the  little  girls,  simultaneously, 
as  they  ran. 

"Oh,  Florida,  the  most  awfulest  thing 
has  happened!"  cried  Louise,  the  first  to 
break  the  news.  She  rested  her  meager 
form  against  the  iron  gate,  and  paused 
for  breath,  her  shrewd,  gipsy-like  counte 
nance  betraying  a  secret  satisfaction  in 
the  excitement  of  the  moment. 

"I  said  /  was  going  to  tell  her," 
whimpered  Ethel,  struggling  to  push  her 
sister  aside.  "I  bid  first,  you  know  I 
did,  Louise,  while  we  were  coming  down 
the  stairs." 

"Shut  your  mouth,  missy;  I  don't  care 
whether  you  did  or  not,  I'm  going  to 
tell  her  myself,"  retorted  Louise,  defi 
antly. 

Florida  caught  the  elder  girl's  hands  in 
her  own,  and  held  them  firmly.  "Now, 
what  is  it?"  she  demanded  very  quietly. 
She  was  putting  a  great  control  upon  her 
self.  "What  have  you  to  tell  me,  Louise? 

Papa "  but  she  could  go  no  further. 

208 


Florida  Alexander 

"Papa?"  echoed  Louise,  vaguely,  ex 
amining  critically  a  slit  which  she  had 
just  discovered  in  the  sleeve  of  her  dark 
blue  flannel  gown.  ' '  Oh,  papa's  all  right. 
Did  you  think  it  was  papa?"  raising  her 
head  with  a  look  of  amused  surprise. 
"  Papa  never  goes  hunting.  Of  course,  it 
could  not  be  papa.  It  is  Mr.  St.  John." 

"Florida,  he  came  back  last  week  to 
that  funny  little  house  he  used  to  live 
in,"  here  put  in  Ethel,  "and  one  morn 
ing  he  went  out  hunting  with  some  men, 
and  his  gun  went  off,  or  somebody  else's 
gun  went  off,  and  I  don't  know  whether 
mama  said  it  was  Mr.  St.  John's  gun  or 
somebody  else's  gun — whose  gun  was 
it,  Louise?" 

"Oh,  go  on,  if  you  know  so  much 
about  it;  just  go  on,"  replied  Louise, 
with  lofty  disdain. 

"Louise,  you  know  I  heard  mama," 
burst  forth  the  other,  reproachfully, 
goaded  to  tears.  "Mama  was  in  the  blue 
parlor  with  some  ladies,  and  I  heard  her, 
every  word.  I  was  hi — hiding  behind  the 
209 


Florida  Alexander 

so — sofa,  and  I  heard  her  tell — telling 
everything." 

"Yes,  and  I'm  going  to  tell  her  on 
you,  too,  you  little  cry-baby,  you.  What 
did  she  say  she'd  do  to  you,  if  ever  she 
caught  you  at  that  trick  again?" 

"Oh,  but  you  were  there,  too!" 
shrieked  the  child,  in  a  frenzy  of  alarm. 
"I  saw  you  be — be — behind  the  curtain 
— all  the  time." 

Florida  stood  mute  and  motionless. 
Her  face  had  grown  very  white. 

"Are  you  telling  me  that  Mr.  St.  John 
has  been  hurt?"  she  asked,  at  length. 
But  there  was  something  strange  in  the 
sound  of  her  voice,  and  the  two  children 
instantly  stopped  their  wrangling,  and 
looked  up,  startled,  into  her  face. 

"Oh,  Florida!"  they  both  cried  to 
gether,  drawing  back  from  her  in  dismay. 
Evidently  the  pleasure  they  had  antici 
pated  in  imparting  a  tragic  piece  of  infor 
mation  had  been  somewhat  overrated. 

"You  look  just  like  you  were  going  to 
die,  too,"  gasped  Louise. 


Florida  Alexander 

"No — no — I  am  not  ill,"  answered 
Florida,  quickly.  "Tell  me — tell  me  at 
once  everything  you  know."  And  then 
Louise  began  again,  but  this  time  with 
less  animation. 

"He  was  out  hunting,  and  there  was 
an  accident,  and  they  brought  him  home, 
and  last  night  he  was  a  heap  worser  than 
ever,  and  when  the  doctors  left  him  they 
said  he  couldn't  live,  and  that  he  was 
'most  dying  then,  and  I  think  he's  dead 

now,  and oh,  yonder  comes  the  calf. 

How  could  it  have  gotten  out!  Let's 
chase  it,  Ethel!"  And  off  they  flew, 
their  long  hair  fluttering  like  pennants  in 
the  wind. 

After  they  were  gone,  Florida  remained 
standing  for  a  moment  where  they  had 
left  her,  staring  blankly  in  the  direction 
of  their  retreating  figures.  Then  she 
pressed  her  hands  to  her  temples  in  a 
puzzled  way  and  leaned  heavily  against 
the  iron  fence.  Their  voices  were  still 
ringing  in  her  ears,  but  at  every  instant 
the  words  seemed  to  grow  louder  and 


Florida  Alexander 

louder  until  they  had  become  at  last  only 
a  deafening,  unmeaning  roar.  She  was 
wholly  unable  to  act  or  think.  There 
was  a  strange  glimmer  over  the  earth. 
The  pavement  seemed  trying  to  leap  to 
her.  Her  eyes  were  wide  and  staring, 
and  there  was  a  slight  twitching  of  the 
muscles  about  the  mouth ;  but  her  fea 
tures  were  set — almost  hard  in  their  pal 
lor.  Presently  she  began  to  creep  slowly, 
aimlessly,  along  the  side  of  the  fence,  still 
clinging  to  the  railing. 

But  all  at  once,  like  a  white  shaft  of 
light  forcing  an  opening  in  a  black  cloud, 
into  the  darkness  of  her  brain  there 
pierced  an  animating  thought :  she  would 
go  to  him!  And  instantly  her  whole  be 
ing  bounded  to  the  single  impulse.  Con 
ventions  of  society,  circumstances  of  the 
situation,  what  were  they  to  her  now? 

St.  John's  old  colored  servant  met  her 
at  the  door.  The  woman's  face  was 
swollen  from  weeping,  and  there  was  a 
tragic  significance  in  the  grave  dignity 
with  which  she  raised  her  tall  form  to  its 


Florida  Alexander 

full  height  and  stood  towering  above  the 
quivering,  breathless,  beautiful  young 
creature  on  the  steps  below. 

Florida  winced  a  little  under  the  re 
proach  she  thought  she  saw  in  the  wom 
an's  glance.  With  lowered  lids  she 
waited  an  instant,  white  and  speechless, 
a  great  humility  upon  her;  then  she 
mutely  lifted  her  eyes,  beseeching,  elo 
quent  in  the  pathos  of  a  dumb  appeal. 
The  expression  of  the  old  negress 
changed. 

"He  was  outer  his haid  this  mawnin'," 
she  hinted,  with  a  world  of  meaning  in 
the  tones.  Not  receiving  a  reply,  she 
drew  a  step  nearer,  in  order  that  she 
might  whisper  into  the  girl's  ear  some 
thing  that  was  meant  for  one  alone. 

"Honey,"  she  said,  softly,  "he's  been 
axin'  fur  you  all  th'  time;  I  'lowed  I 
gwine  fetch  you,  ef  you  didn't  come 
'long  soon." 

The  two  women  looked  each  other 
in  the  eyes,  being  drawn  oddly  near  to 
gether  in  that  moment  of  mutual  woe. 
213 


Florida  Alexander 

It    was   a  gaze  of   entire   comprehension 
with  both. 

With  a  beckoning  nod  over  her  shoul 
der,  and  muttering  to  herself  in  the  low, 
crooning  voice  that  had  lulled  many  a 
babe  to  its  slumbers,  old  Phyllis  placed 
her  hand  upon  a  door  which  opened  into 
the  hall.  Then  she  noiselessly  turned 
the  knob,  at  the  same  time  giving  the 
girl  a  gentle  little  push  forward.  "He's 
'sleep,"  she  whispered;  "I'll  be  'long 
bime-by." 

Florida  moved  a  few  steps  into  the 
room,  paused  and  put  up  her  hands 
quickly  to  her  breast.  A  stifled  moan 
broke  from  her  lips,  leaving  her  as  one 
petrified  where  she  stood.  A  parting 
ray  of  sunlight  was  stealing  in  at  the 
window,  resting  upon  the  coverlet  and 
upon  St.  John's  white,  upturned  face. 
That  one  look  had  told  her  that  it  was 
death.  She  could  not  let  her  eyes  rest 
upon  him  again.  But  there  was  some 
thing  majestic  in  the  deep  tranquillity  of 
his  repose,  and  in  the  expression  of  those 
214 


Florida  Alexander 

still  features  she  found  only  a  message  of 
peace. 

Blinded  by  remorse  and  grief,  all  the 
suppressed  tenderness  of  her  nature 
touched  by  the  thought  of  his  suffering — 
especially  the  suffering  that  had  come  to 
him  through  the  concealment  that  con 
science  had  compelled  her  to  practice — 
with  a  groan  she  staggered  forward. 
Even  in  that  moment  she  was  conscious 
of  a  sense  of  almost  triumph  in  the  reali 
zation  that  at  last,  for  this  one  time,  she 
could  tell  him  what  he  was  to  her.  Death 
had  given  a  right  which  life  had  denied. 
The  next  instant  she  was  on  her  knees 
at  the  bedside,  and  her  arms  were  about 
his  neck  and  her  tears  were  wetting  his 
cheek. 

But  suddenly  she  uttered  a  startled  cry 
and  drew  back;  she  had  made  a  mistake. 
For  it  was  not  to  lifeless  ears,  as  she  sup 
posed,  that  thus  her  long-guarded  secret 
was  told. 


215 


XV 

The  turn  for  the  better  in  St.  John's 
condition,  coming  at  a  time  when  his  life 
had  been  almost  despaired  of  by  his  phy 
sicians,  was  variously  accounted  for  on 
the  part  of  those  learned  functionaries, 
each  of  whom  believed  that  the  credit  of 
the  possible  recovery  should  be  traced  to 
his  own  skillful  suggestions  in  regard  to 
the  management  of  the  case.  Be  that  as 
it  may,  it  is  true  that  waking  in  the  after 
glow  of  a  certain  October  sunset,  St. 
John  had  opened  his  eyes  upon  a  world 
which  seemed  to  reveal  to  him  less  of 
earth  than  of  heaven;  and  from  that  hour 
his  fight  for  life  began  with  a  resolution 
that  had  been  lacking  at  the  first.  But 
it  was  a  hard  fight,  and  more  than  once 
it  appeared  that  death  would  be  the  vic 
tor. 

216 


Florida  Alexander 

During  those  weeks  of  suspense,  Florida 
had  seemed  possessed  of  a  strange  new 
dignity — a  kind  of  secret  exaltation  that 
lent  a  grave  sweetness  and  reserve  to 
her  demeanor.  It  was  as  if  she  had 
come  into  a  deeper  comprehension  of  a 
great  mystery,  and  walked  always  under 
the  rays  of  a  divine  effulgence,  and  with 
a  halo  about  her  head. 

There  is  little  space  for  calm,  clear 
thinking  when  a  sudden  wind  of  destiny 
has  lifted  one  to  the  heights;  and  the 
eye  of  the  beholder  is  apt  to  be  dazed 
from  gazing  too  long  at  the  sun.  Though 
she  would  sit  alone  by  the  hour,  wrapped 
in  a  deep  quietude,  her  hands  folded  on 
her  knees,  her  thoughts  were  not  toiling 
with  the  problems  which  the  future  would 
surely  bring  in  the  case  of  St.  John's  res 
toration  to  health;  all  her  former  ques 
tionings  were  stilled  —  drowned  in  a 
golden  sea  of  rapture,  of  reciprocated 
joy.  Thus,  for  a  time,  the  old  warfare 
between  that  stern,  acquired  sense,  which 
calmly  sees  and  condemns  and  that  en- 
217 


Florida  Alexander 

tirely  human  instinct  which  is  blind  and 
only  feels,  had  ceased.  For,  though  the 
chances  were  in  his  favor,  for  many  days 
St.  John's  recovery  was  not  assured,  and 
to-morrow — who  can  think  of  to-morrow 
weighted  with  the  stress  of  to-day? 

But  at  last  the  long  waiting  seemed  at 
an  end,  and  there  came  a  day  when  the 
message  that  went  forth  was  no  longer 
cautious,  but  positive  and  final:  he  would 
get  well.  To  Florida  the  news  first  came 
through  Aunt  Phyllis. 

With  admirable  tact,  and  the  practice 
of  sundry  roundabout  methods,  includ 
ing  frequent  visits  to  the  Alexander  man 
sion  upon  errands  readily  improvised,  the 
old  negress  had  managed  all  along  to 
keep  the  girl  informed  in  regard  to  the 
patient's  condition.  And  it  was  an  odd 
coincidence  that  Miss  Alexander  seldom 
passed  the  tiny  cottage  on  one  of  those 
long  walks,  which  she  now  daily  indulged 
in,  that  she  did  not  find  this  faithful  serv 
itor  leaning  upon  the  front  gate,  serenely 
committing  the  very  offense  which  she 
218 


Florida  Alexander 

had  once  so  heartily  condemned  to  St. 
John  as  one  of  the  vices  to  be  discovered 
among  the  younger  generation  of  her 
race. 

Finding  her  here  as  usual,  as  she  was 
returning  home  in  the  dusk  of  a  murky 
November  afternoon,  Florida  paused  an 
instant  on  reaching  the  house.  A  light 
mist  was  beginning  to  fall,  and  the  girl 
was  suddenly  reminded  to  raise  her  um 
brella. 

"Will  you  give  him  this,  Aunt  Phyl 
lis?"  she  said,  taking  a  rose  from  the 
buttonhole  of  her  ulster,  and  tipping  the 
umbrella  a  little  forward  to  hide  the  sud 
den  rush  of  color  in  her  cheeks. 

A  swift  sparkle  came  into  the  old 
woman's  eyes,  and  her  teeth  flashed  in  a 
wide,  comprehending  smile.  She  placed 
both  hands  upon  her  broad  hips,  with  an 
air  of  playful  good-humor. 

"He  gwine  git  well,"  she  announced, 
at  length,  smiling  still,  and  nodding  her 
head  oracularly  to  and  fro.  "Honey,  he 
gwine  git  well!" 

219 


Florida  Alexander 

But  all  at  once  she  drew  herself  up 
with  the  stately  dignity  of  an  offended 
queen.  "You  heah  what  that  doctor  say 
this  mawnin'  'bout  movin'  him  up  yon 
der  tuh  th'  liorspittle?"1  she  demanded, 
sternly,  her  black  eyes  wrathful  and  defi 
ant  at  the  mere  mention  of  her  arch 
enemy,  as  she  now  regarded  the  physi 
cian  in  constant  attendance  upon  St. 
John.  Whatever  opinions  others  might 
hold  in  the  matter,  she  at  least  was  con 
vinced  that  the  young  man's  convales 
cence  was  entirely  due  to  her  own  minis 
trations.  "Talkin*  'bout  movin'  him  up 
tuh  St.  Joseph's  horspittle!"  she  re 
peated,  with  infinite  scorn.  "Ain't  I 
hed  eighteen  head  o'  chillun,  an'  he 
come  'long  hur  tellin'  me  I  don't  know 
mo'  'bout  nussin'  than  them  ole  maids 
up  thar  that  ain't  hed  nary  one  tuh  they 
name!" 

Florida  looked  up  quickly,  amused  for 
an  instant  into  a  complete  forgetfulness 
of  everything  save  the  magnitude  of  this 
last  statement.  Amazed  that  by  any  one 


Florida  Alexander 

woman  the  ancient  Hebraic  injunction 
could  have  been  so  faithfully  fulfilled,  she 
asked  feebly: 

"Were  there  really  eighteen,  Aunt 
Phyllis?"  opening  her  eyes  very  wide. 

The  countenance  of  the  old  negress  ex 
pressed  a  slight  dejection. 

"Honey,  I  tell  you,"  she  replied,  in 
some  confusion.  "I  'lowed  th'  was 
nineteen,  but  they  counted  'em  up  on 
me  an'  say  'twa'n't  but  eighteen." 

Miss  Alexander  appeared  suddenly  to 
be  deeply  interested  in  the  passing  of  an 
express-wagon,  which  at  that  moment 
turned  the  corner  of  the  street. 

"Perhaps  the  doctors  thought  the  loss 
of  sleep  and  the  steady  nursing  too  much 
for  you,  at  your  age,"  she  said,  very 
gently,  after  a  time.  "How  have  you 
stood  the  long  strain?" 

"Some  days  I  feels  right  smart,  an' 
some  days  poo'ly;  fell  down  las'  week 
an'  jarred  my  intrils  an'  got  a  mis'ry  in 
my  side.  But  I  gwine  hole  out!"  defi 
antly.  "Ain't  I  putty  nigh  got  him  on 


Florida  Alexander 

his  feet?  He'll  be  'long  down  yo'  way 
in  'bout  a  week." 

In  a  week!  The  words  were  like  a 
sword-thrust  in  the  acuteness  of  their 
meaning,  and  the  old  woman  was  not  a 
little  bewildered  by  the  white,  terror- 
stricken  face  that  was  quickly  lifted  to  hers. 

"In  a  week?"  whispered  the  girl,  in 
an  odd,  tense  voice.  "Is  it  possible  that 
— that  he  may  be  out  in  a  week?"  She 
was  shivering  a  little,  and  she  drew  the 
cape  of  her  ulster  closer  about  her.  Then 
she  turned  abruptly.  "You  had  better 
go  in,  Aunt  Phyllis,"  she  said;  "this 
dampness  won't  help  you  to  keep  well," 
and  in  an  instant  the  slender  gray  figure 
was  lost  in  the  mist. 

Lights  were  burning  in  her  pretty  bed 
room  when  she  entered  it,  and  the  place 
offered  a  cheering  contrast  to  the  gloom 
without.  Florida  stood  for  some  mo 
ments  on  the  hearth-rug,  gazing  absently 
into  the  leaping  flames.  The  expression 
in  her  eyes  had  altered,  and  her  momen 
tary  agitation  had  given  way  to  a  preter- 

222 


Florida  Alexander 

natural  calm.  Mechanically  she  drew  off 
her  gloves;  and  presently,  in  the  same 
quiet,  preoccupied  fashion,  she  began 
slowly  to  remove  her  hat  and  ulster. 

As  she  moved  about  the  room,  her  eye 
was  accidentally  caught  by  a  letter,  half- 
hidden  among  the  writing  materials  on 
her  desk,  which  had  been  that  morning 
received.  The  envelope  was  addressed  in 
pencil,  and  contained  one  of  those  brief 
but  thrilling  messages  that  St.  John  had 
occasionally  managed  to  send  her  during 
his  illness. 

In  a  kind  of  fascinated  stare  she  stood 
looking  toward  it,  longing,  yet  not  daring 
to  take  it  again  into  her  hands.  A  pite 
ous  trembling  had  seized  her  limbs ;  she 
sank  into  one  of  the  chairs  before  the 
fire.  Suddenly  she  leaned  forward  and 
bowed  her  head  upon  her  knees  and  cov 
ered  her  face  with  her  hands. 

About  an  hour  afterward  there  was  a 
knock    at    the    door,    and   a   servant   an 
nounced   dinner.       Without   looking   up, 
she   briefly   directed    him  to  say  that  she 
223 


Florida  Alexander 

was  tired  and  would  not  be  down.  And 
thus,  slowly,  monotonously,  like  the 
steady  dripping  of  a  single  drop  of  water, 
the  heavy  moments  wore  into  the  night. 
She  had  gone  far  back  into  the  past, 
and  with  that  clearer  retrospection  that 
sometimes  comes,  her  whole  previous  ex 
istence  seemed  to  unfold  itself  in  a  pano 
rama  before  her.  Twelve !  One !  Then, 
ponderously,  a  clock  in  a  neighboring 
steeple  sounded  the  hour  of  two.  There 
had  been  an  intense  quietude  for  a  long 
time;  then  the  echo  of  the  footsteps  of 
some  passer-by  in  the  deserted  streets 
came  nearer  and  nearer.  She  found  her 
self  listening  vaguely  to  the  sound,  roused 
into  a  momentary  consciousness  of  things 
about  her  by  that  deep  sense  of  a  com 
mon  humanity  which  was  essentially  hers 
and  which  always  seemed  to  link  her 
sympathetically  to  all  mankind.  With 
what  rueful  recollection,  what  anguish  of 
contrition  might  not  this  heart,  too,  be 
stirred?  The  man  pursued  his  lonely 
way,  and  again  the  street  was  still. 
224 


Florida  Alexander 

She  passed  on  to  the  time  of  her  ac 
quaintance  with  St.  John.  The  fire  had 
burned  low,  and  the  room  had  grown 
gradually  chill,  yet  all  at  once  the  very 
breath  of  summer  encompassed  her. 

Beginning  with  their  first  meeting,  her 
thoughts  rapidly  followed  the  shifting 
scenes;  but  before  one  picture  she  lin 
gered  long. 

Her  heart  was  beating  wildly.  Again 
the  spell  of  moonlight  was  upon  her;  the 
wailing  sweetness  of  distant  music  was  in 
her  ears  and  the  whisperings  of  the  night 
wind  in  the  willows  blending  with  the 
grave  voices  of  the  frogs.  She  even 
seemed  to  smell  the  dank  grasses,  the 
perfume  of  the  roses  and  honeysuckle 
and  elder  as  there  came  back  to  her  these 
low,  earnest  words: 

"Believe  me,  I  have  never  spoken  to 
any  other  woman  as  I  wish  now  to  speak 
to  you.  I  have  dreamed  of  such  love  as 
this — the  love  I  should  give  to  that  only 
one  whose  nature  should  be  as  spotless  as 
your  nature  has  revealed  itself  to  me,  and 
225 


Florida  Alexander 

whose  capacity  for  loving  should  be  as 
boundless  as  I  have  always  felt  was  yours. 
And  had  you  been  less  perfect  than  I 
have  found  you  to  be,  whatever  would 
have  been  the  feeling  I  had  given  you,  it 
could  not  have  been  love." 

With  a  heavy  sob,  she  half  rose  to  her 
feet.  What  was  that  thought  that  now 
thrust  itself  upon  her?  What  terrible 
temptation  was  she  about  to  meet?  As 
if  shrinking  from  some  evil  presence,  she 
crouched  down  into  her  chair,  quivering 
in  every  nerve. 

"Why  tell  him — why  tell  him  any 
thing?"  a  voice  seemed  to  say.  "How 
could  you  ever  make  him  understand? 
Have  you  the  right  to  deal  less  mercifully 
with  yourself  than  you  would  deal  with 
another  being,  human,  like  yourself? 
And  if  you  should  try,  would  it  be  possi 
ble  for  you  to  present  the  case  in  such 
a  manner  that  he  would  see  things  as  they 
really  were?  Surely,  it  is  for  yourself, 
you,  just  as  you  are  to-day  that  he  cares; 
what  matters  it  that  your  truer  nature 
226 


Florida  Alexander 

has  come  up  out  of  the  ashes  of  a  great 
humiliation?"  And  then,  lost  in  the 
sophistry  of  a  disquieted  brain,  came  the 
subtlest  suggestion  of  all,  "Would  it  be 
just  or  kind  to  him?" 

The  first  gray  streaks  of  dawn  were 
visible  in  the  eastern  sky  when  a  strange 
resolve  took  possession  of  her.  Hid  away 
in  a  secret  drawer  of  an  old  cabinet  and 
guarded  well  was  the  photograph  of  a 
man  who  was  dead,  but  who,  living,  had 
loved  her  beyond  his  honor  and  his  life. 
Would  those  eyes  that  had  so  long 
seemed  to  accuse  her  speak  forgiveness  to 
her  now?  Many  months  had  passed  since 
she  had  dared  look  upon  that  pictured 
face.  Her  hands  shook  nervously  as  she 
touched  the  spring  and  the  little  jeweled 
casket  flew  open.  The  picture  was  in 
her  hands. 

It  was  the  face  of  a  young  man  of 
about  eight  and  twenty,  willful,  passion 
ate  and  weak,  perhaps,  but  by  no  means 
sensual,  and  withal  most  genial  and 
kindly — a  boyish,  handsome  face,  possess- 
227 


Florida  Alexander 

ing  a  certain  winning  sweetness  and  reck 
less  daring  of  expression. 

A  mist  came  into  the  girl's  eyes.  She 
moved  softly  to  the  window  and  drew 
back  the  curtain.  The  sun  was  just 
rising,  and  a  glorifying  beam  fell  full 
upon  the  picture. 

Presently — delicate  as  had  been  the 
dawning  of  the  new  day — a  faint,  flick 
ering  hope  traced  itself  upon  her  sad  fea 
tures  for  an  instant,  leaving  her  counte 
nance  pure  and  exalted  under  the  light 
of  a  swift  transfiguration.  Through  her 
tears  she  seemed  to  see  St.  John's  face 
also,  near  the  pictured  one,  looking  earn 
estly  into  hers.  She  dropped  the  win 
dow-curtain  and  turned  away.  A  fixed 
and  holy  decision  was  upon  her.  Sud 
denly  she  bowed  her  head  as  if  in  prayer. 

She  would  tell  him — tell  him  every 
thing! 


228 


XVI 

One  mild,  gray  morning  in  the  latter 
part  of  November  St.  John  stood  in  his 
open  doorway  for  the  first  time  after  his 
illness. 

He  was  not  greatly  altered.  Already 
he  had  begun  to  take  on  the  look  of  re 
turning  health  and  vigor,  and  his  dark 
face  betrayed  the  secret  of  a  deep  repose 
— the  restfulness  that  comes  to  those  who 
have  waited  long  and  suffered  much  and 
found  their  peace  at  last. 

Six  months  before  he  had  stood  in  that 
same  spot,  looking  wistfully  but  hesitat 
ingly  in  one  direction — the  direction  of  a 
quaint  old  homestead  with  clinging  rose- 
vines  and  tall whitecolumns  which  gleamed 
in  the  sunlight.  Then  the  house  had 
been  almost  hidden  by  the  dense  foliage, 
but  now  it  was  plainly  visible  through 
229 


Florida  Alexander 

the  denuded  trees.  On  that  brilliant 
May  morning  when  all  nature  had  seemed 
to  palpitate  with  life  and  promise,  there 
had  been  but  meager  hope  in  his  heart ; 
to-day,  looking  out  upon  the  unlovely 
street  and  watching  the  hungry  little 
sparrows  as  they  hopped  disconsolately 
among  the  leafless  maples,  he  felt  that 
for  him  this  truly  was  the  beginning,  not 
the  end,  and  that  now  he  was  about  to 
enter  upon  his  spring.  Had  he  had  his 
way,  at  this  moment,  the  whole  earth 
would  suddenly  have  become  beautiful 
with  grass  and  flowers  and  musical  with 
the  singing  of  birds  and  the  laughter  of 
soft-flowing  waters.  Seldom  had  nature 
seemed  so  little  in  harmony  with  his 
mood. 

In  answer  to  his  request,  Florida  had 
written  briefly  to  say  that  she  would  see 
him  at  eleven.  It  was  now  only  half- 
past  ten.  How  the  moments  dragged ! 

And  it  was  to  be  their  first  meeting. 
Since  that  time  when  he  had  heard  her 
smothered  sobs  and  felt  her  tears  on  his 
230 


Florida  Alexander 

cheek,  and  listened  to  that  tenderest  of 
confessions — which  only  the  noblest  of 
women  can  ever  make — he  had  not  once 
looked  into  the  face  which,  through  pain 
or  delirium  or  peaceful  dream,  had 
seemed  always  near  to  him.  It  was  only 
by  a  strong  effort  of  will  that  he  was  able 
to  keep  back  the  tumultuous  thoughts 
that  now  came  surging  upon  him,  threat 
ening  to  destroy  his  outward  calm.  That 
he  did  not  wish  to  lose. 

With  the  cheerful  reminiscence  with 
which  one  recounts  the  perils  he  has 
passed,  or  recalls  the  scars  won  in  honor 
able  battle,  he  found  himself  reverting 
to  the  gloomy  day  of  his  return  to  Ken 
tucky  four  or  five  weeks  before,  when  he 
had  been  at  considerable  pains  to  per 
suade  himself  into  the  belief  that  he  had 
come  back  solely  for  the  purpose  of  con 
ferring  with  the  trustees  of  the  college  in 
regard  to  the  chair  he  was  aiding  them 
to  fill.  It  had  been  a  poor  deception 
at  best,  and  this  morning  he  was  not 
ashamed  of  what  he  had  regarded  as  a 
231 


Florida  Alexander 

weakness  then.  Presently  he  took  out 
his  watch  and  studied  it  fixedly.  But 
there  was  nothing  wrong  with  the  watch. 

Only  ten  minutes  out  of  the  thirty  had 
passed. 

But  as  the  time  drew  nearer  his  exalta 
tion  of  spirit  appeared  to  sink  into  a 
gradual  depression — that  vague,  melan 
choly  which  seems  to  possess  certain 
natures  just  as  the  moment  of  fulfillment 
is  assured.  Is  it  regret  for  the  past,  is 
it  dread  for  the  future  that  brings  the 
momentary  shrinking  and  reluctance? 
There  was  a  touch  of  sadness  added  to 
the  sober  resoluteness  of  his  looks  when 
he  slowly  started  down  the  street. 

As  he  approached  the  house,  a  sense 
of  punctiliousness  brought  the  Major  be 
fore  his  mind's  eye,  and  he  promptly 
decided  that  before  another  day  had 
passed  he  would  betake  himself  into  the 
presence  of  that  gentleman  and  hum 
bly  suggest  that  he  be  adopted  into  the 
family  in  the  relation  of  son-in-law  at 
once. 

232 


Florida  Alexander 

In  spite  of  the  kindly  solicitude  and 
attention  bestowed  during  his  illness,  St. 
John  found  himself  looking  forward  to 
this  interview  with  a  timorousness  that 
was  none  the  less  real  because  tinctured 
with  a  quaintly  humorous  recognition  of 
his  own  novel  and  somewhat  trying  atti 
tude  toward  his  old  friend.  The  Major's 
benevolent  expression  seemed  all  at  once 
to  become  changed  into  something  fierce 
and  warlike  and  forbidding;  and  in  im 
agination  he  beheld  himself  trembling 
like  the  veriest  craven  before  an  eye  like 
Mars'  bent  superciliously  and  threaten 
ingly  upon  him.  However,  his  thoughts 
were  altogether  in  the  present  when  he 
finally  entered  the  wide  portal  and  was 
ushered  into  Florida's  little  reception- 
room  to  await  her  coming. 

It  was  a  low,  square  room  in  the  wing 
with  tiny  window-panes  and  a  deep  win 
dow-seat.  It  was  airily  furnished  in 
chintz  and  muslin,  and  in  the  selection 
and  blending  of  color,  the  subjects  of  the 
several  etchings  on  the  walls,  the  titles 
233 


Florida  Alexander 

of  the  stray  volumes  here  and  there, 
there  was  a  subtle  hint  of  the  occupant 
that  was  at  once  delicate  and  urgent  and 
pervasive. 

St.  John  threw  a  warm,  brief  glance 
about  him.  There  were  some  red  roses 
— roses  that  he  had  sent — in  a  bowl  on 
the  table.  His  heart  was  beating  fiercely 
now.  The  faint  ticking  of  a  clock  on 
the  mantel  seemed  to  grow  louder  and 
more  rapid. 

Soon  there  was  a  light,  firm  step  on 
the  stair.  The  door  of  the  room  had 
been  left  ajar,  and  he  could  hear  every 
click  of  her  dainty  heels  as  she  slowly 
descended  the  long  flight.  Her  steps 
drew  nearer,  paused  an  instant,  and  then 
came  steadily  on.  He  rose  and  stood 
waiting. 

She  had  reached  the  door — her  hand 
was  on  the  panel.  His  breath  came 
quickly,  a  sudden  light  leaped  into  his 
eyes. 

The  two  stood  face  to  face. 

She  moved  a  short  space  into  the 
234 


Florida  Alexander 

room,  and  came  to  an  abrupt  standstill, 
crimsoning  deeply,  as  if  some  new  shyness 
had  surprised  her  out  of  herself.  She 
was  smiling  and  her  face  was  radiant,  but 
with  a  brilliancy  that  both  enthralled  and 
startled.  There  was  a  tremulous  sweet 
ness  in  her  momentary  hesitation. 

Presently  into  her  great,  glowing  eyes 
there  crept  a  deep  and  serious  question 
ing.  The  lids  faltered  and  fell  beneath 
his  returning  gaze.  At  each  quivering 
breath  the  rose  at  her  breast  fluttered  like 
a  frightened  red-bird  among  the  lace  and 
folds  of  her  pale  gray  gown. 

For  a  moment  he  could  not  speak. 

Never  had  she  appeared  more  womanly 
and  sincere;  never  had  that  mysterious 
witchery  which  she  alone  of  all  women 
had  power  to  shed  for  him  been  more 
complete ;  and  yet  never  at  any  time  of 
their  acquaintance  had  she  seemed  far 
ther  beyond  his  reach.  He  was  at  a  loss 
to  comprehend  whence  came  the  sharp, 
poignant  thrust  that  pierced  him  in  that 
instant. 

235 


Florida  Alexander 

Silent,  perplexed,  he  still  stood  wait 
ing.  A  stern  impatience  was  beginning 
coldly  to  trace  itself  upon  his  features. 
It  seemed  as  if  she  would  never  lift 
her  eyes.  But  all  at  once,  as  if  reading 
his  very  thoughts,  she  slowly  raised  them 
to  his — sad,  reproachful,  but  filled  to 
overflowing  with  that  boundless  devotion 
which  some  women  give  and  in  the  pres 
ence  of  which  all  men  feel  a  certain  awe 
and  inward  shame. 

With  a  low  cry  he  drew  her  to  him : 
"At  last,  at  last!"  and  his  arms  were 
about  her  in  a  kind  of  savage  tenderness 
and  exultation. 

But  as  his  lips  touched  hers,  a  burning 
crimson  mounted  quite  to  her  brow,  and 
trembling  she  struggled  from  his  grasp. 

She  walked  over  to  the  window,  and 
drawing  back  the  curtain  stood  looking 
out  for  a  long  time.  He  could  see,  in 
spite  of  her  strong  efforts  for  self-repres 
sion,  that  she  was  deeply  agitated.  But 
when  she  finally  came  back  and  sat  down 
before  the  fire  in  the  low  chair  he  placed 
236 


Florida  Alexander 

for  her,  her  manner  was  sweet  and  tran 
quil  and  unconstrained. 

He  leaned  abruptly  toward  her,  his 
swarthy  face  lit  with  a  sudden  fire. 

"Florida,"  he  said,  beseechingly, 
"won't  you  say  it — won't  you  say  it  just 
once?" 

She  looked  up,  smiling  in  gay  abandon. 

"And  what  is  it  you  wish  me  to  say?" 
she  asked,  evasively. 

"You  know." 

"No.     /  have  so  many  things  to  say." 

"Very  well;  begin.  I'm  waiting,  and 
I've  been  waiting  a  long  time.  But  I 
don't  propose  to  wait  forever." 

"I  don't  know  where  to  begin." 

"Begin  at  the  beginning." 

She  fumbled  nervously  with  the  rose 
on  her  breast,  loosening  it  from  its  place 
and  then  refastening  it  in  a  preoccupied 
fashion.  He  watched  her  in  some  un 
easiness,  but  still  indulgent  and  willing  to 
humor  her,  provided  she  did  not  carry  her 
caprice  too  far.  He  had  never  before 
thought  her  in  any  degree  whimsical,  and 
237 


Florida  Alexander 

a  vague  feeling  of  disappointment  was 
beginning  to  creep  over  him. 

"Aren't  you  even  willing  to  say  you 
are  glad  to  see  me?"  he  asked,  in  a 
slightly  aggrieved  tone,  after  several  mo 
ments. 

"Yes,"  she  replied.  But  her  voice 
was  so  low  he  caught  the  one  word  rather 
from  the  motion  of  her  lips  than  from  the 
actual  sound. 

"Then  you  will  say  it — once — as  if 
you  did  really  mean  it?" 

She  lifted  her  eyes  full  to  his  for  a 
moment,  and  again  their  dumb  reproach, 
the  complete  surrender  and  unveiling  of 
her  inmost  nature,  thrilled  him  to  the  very 
heart's  center.  They  were  both  silent 
for  a  time.  A  sort  of  pitying  tenderness 
throbbed  in  his  voice,  and  there  was  a 
directness  and  total  lack  of  reserve  in  his 
next  words. 

"I     had     thought    that    this    moment 

would   never   come,"   he   said  at    length, 

very  quietly.      "All  those  long  days  and 

nights  that  I   lay  there  ill  and  suffering 

238 


Florida  Alexander 

and  exhausted,  do  you  know  what  was 
the  one  maddening  feeling  that  possessed 
me?  The  feeling  that  I  had  won  you 
only  to  lose  you,  and  that  death  was 
going  to  separate  us  at  the  very  moment 
when  we  had  first  begun  to  live.  I  did 
not  think  it  possible  I  should  recover." 

She  started  a  little  and  looked  quickly 
away.  A  long  quivering  sigh  shook  her 
from  head  to  foot. 

"Death  never  separates  —  only  life," 
she  said. 

He  looked  at  her  curiously  for  an  in 
stant,  and  then  went  on  : 

"But  after  the  time  of  danger  was 
passed,  and  there  came  calm,  painless 
hours  of  contemplation,  I  thought  of 
many  things.  I  dwelt  a  great  deal  upon 
the  circumstances  that  irresistibly  led  me 
to  come  to  Kentucky  in  the  beginning  at 
a  time  when  other  and  more  ambitious 
opportunities  seemed  within  my  grasp. 
I  was  not  without  prejudice  in  regard  to 
the  Kentucky  people — the  Kentucky  peo 
ple  of  to-day.  In  the  newspapers  I  had 
239 


Florida  Alexander 

read  of  the  dark  tragedies  that  were  con 
tinually  occurring  in  their  midst;  and,  in 
the  general  way  one  arrives  at  conclusions 
without  the  aid  of  experimental  knowl 
edge,  I  had  formed  an  opinion  that  was 
as  unfavorable  as  it  was  unjust.  I  need 
not  say  how  unlike  what  I  had  pictured 
to  myself  in  many  ways  I  have  found  the 
true  situation  to  be." 

"I  am  so  glad  to  hear  that  you  love 
Kentucky,"  she  answered,  archly.  St. 
John  broke  into  a  laugh. 

"But  it  is  not  of  my  love  of  Kentucky 
that  I  would  like  to  speak  just  now,"  he 
responded,  quickly,  and  you  know  that 
very  well.  Sometimes  as  I  lay  there  it 
seemed  that  my  whole  previous  existence 
had  been  merely  a  waiting  and  a  prepara 
tion — for  this.  I  thought  of  everything 
— of  you,  of  myself,  of  our  future;  and  I 
was  glad,  with  a  certain  fierce  joy  and 
elation,  that  the  temptations  and  dissipa 
tions  that  appeal  to  most  men  had  not 
appealed  to  me,  and  that  my  past  life 
was  as  clean  as  it  was,  so  that  I  might 
240 


Florida  Alexander 

seem  a  little  more  worthy  of  you  and  of 
your  perfect  love." 

She  was  looking  steadily  away  from 
him  now,  and  he  could  see  only  the  tip 
of  one  delicate  ear,  the  sweep  of  the  rich 
hair  against  the  crimson  cushion,  the 
rounded  curves  of  her  supple  form. 
There  was  a  dreamy  note  in  his  voice 
when  he  began  again. 

"I  think  it  must  have  been  before  me 
always,"  he  continued,  "the  belief  that 
the  time  would  come  when  I  should 
deeply  love  one  woman  —  one  and  one 
only.  Therefore,  those  fleeting  impres 
sions  that  assail  the  fancy  and  those  far 
less  worthy  emotions  that  work  such 
havoc  in  men's  lives  were  not  for  me. 
From  the  depths  of  my  soul  I  pity  all 
those  who  in  trying  to  snatch  some  mo 
mentary  joy  bring  a  blight  upon  their 
natures  that  nothing  can  remove." 

She  quickly  turned  her  face  toward  him. 

"But  are  there  not  some  who  can  only 
find  out  poison  by  tasting  every  bush?" 
And  then,  in  an  almost  breathless  eager- 
241 


Florida  Alexander 

ness,    she   added:     ''You    believe  —  you 
believe  in  regeneration?" 

"Perhaps  not  in  the  way  that  you  un 
derstand  it,"  he  replied.  He  looked 
thoughtfully  into  the  fire  for  some  mo 
ments. 

"There  is  only  one  subject  upon  which 
I  think  we  shall  ever  seriously  differ  in 
our  life  together,"  he  said,  slowly,  at 
length,  "and  that  is  the  subject  of  our 
religious  convictions.  Concerning  these, 
I  hold  that  every  individual  should  be 
allowed  to  exercise  his  own  right:  the 
right  to  speak  of  them  with  all  reverence, 
and  the  right  to  refrain  from  speaking  of 
them  at  all  if  he  so  desires.  For  my  own 
part,  I  have  never  been  able  to  accept 
the  orthodox  creeds  of  Christianity.  The 
divinity  of  Christ,  the  vicarious  sacrifice, 
the  atonement " 

Something  in  her  expression  caused 
him  instinctively  to  break  off.  Her  eyes 
seemed  riveted  upon  his  face,  and  he 
thought  he  saw  a  look  of  sudden  horror 
and  revulsion  in  their  depths. 
242 


Florida  Alexander 

But  she  did  not  speak.  It  did  not  seem 
possible  for  her  even  to  attempt  to  make 
him  understand  the  meaning  in  her  own 
life  of  that  deep,  unquestioning  faith  that 
had  come  down  to  her  through  genera 
tions  of  believing  forefathers,  and  which, 
however  far  she  might  have  appeared  at 
times  to  depart  from  it  in  her  practices, 
had  never  relaxed  its  hold  upon  her. 

All  at  once,  by  one  of  those  irrelevant 
flashes  of  memory  which  every  one  some 
times  experiences,  there  came  vividly  be 
fore  her  a  scene  from  her  early  childhood. 
She  had  been  reprimanded  for  something 
she  had  done  which  she  should  not  have 
done,  and  she  had  grown  at  once,  as  was 
her  wont,  rueful,  and  apologetic,  and  re 
pentant.  "Oh,  papa,"  she  had  ex 
plained  between  her  sobs,  "the  devil 
spoke  to  me  and  he  was  so  near,  and  God 
spoke  to  me  and  He  was  so  far  away,  I 
heard  the  devil  and  I  couldn't  hear  God. ' ' 

She   could   see   the  quivering,  childish 
form.     Tears  came  into  her  eyes  and  she 
turned  her  face  away. 
243 


Florida  Alexander 

She  rose  and  began  to  move  softly 
about  the  room  in  an  abstracted  fashion, 
as  if  almost  unconscious  of  his  presence. 
But  she  suddenly  paused,  and  stood  rest 
ing  both  arms,  in  an  attitude  with  which 
he  was  familiar,  upon  the  back  of  a  chair 
near  to  him.  Again,  with  the  same 
torturing  presentiment  that  had  assailed 
him  the  moment  she  entered  the  room, 
he  felt  her  slow,  searching  gaze  upon 
him. 

There  were  two  burning  spots  in  her 
cheeks,  and  her  lips  were  parted.  Pres 
ently  she  leaned  a  little  forward  and 
smiled — timid,  imploring,  absolutely  self- 
forgetful  now ;  and  again  there  were  tears 
on  her  lashes. 

All  the  poetry  in  him  roused  by  the 
womanliness  of  that  appeal,  inexpressibly 
touched,  he  rose  and  came  precipitately 
toward  her.  But  she  motioned  him  back. 

"No,  no — please!"  she  cried.  There 
was  genuine  pain  in  her  voice.  A  cold 
look  crept  into  his  eyes. 

"Will  you  love  me  in  spite  of  the 
244 


Florida  Alexander 

thorns  and  the  briars?  Will  you  love  me 
in  spite  of — everything?"  she  demanded, 
when  he  had  resumed  his  seat.  His  sen 
sitive  ear  caught  the  doubt. 

He  met  her  glance  a  little  formally. 
There  was  that  in  her  repeated  question 
ing  that  contained  a  stab ;  his  egoism  had 
received  a  wound. 

She  moved  away  sorrowfully,  and  sat 
down  as  far  from  him  as  the  small  apart 
ment  would  allow.  He  did  not  see  that 
she  was  trembling  pitifully  in  every  nerve. 

"Do  you  remember  that  you  once  told 
me  the  tragic  story  of  a  friend  of  yours — 
the  friend  whom  you  loved  above  every 
one  else  on  earth?"  she  asked,  abruptly, 
after  a  time. 

"Yes,"  he  replied  moodily;  "I  re 
member." 

"You  said  that  some  woman  tempted 
him  to  dishonor  and  then  disdained  him, 
and  that  because  of  his  hopeless  love  for 
her  and  his  utter  misery  that  he  took  his 
own  life;  you  said  that  the  girl  to  whom 
he  was  engaged  to  be  married,  and  who 
,  245 


Florida  Alexander 

still  loved  him  though  he  had  been  faith 
less  to  her,  died  broken-hearted  ;  and  you 
said  that  the  woman  who  was  responsible 
for  it  all  was  heartless  and  cruel  and  un 
worthy  of  a  thought ;  you  said ' 

"Pardon  me,"  he  interrupted  coldly, 
"but  the  story  is  sacred  to  me." 

She  was  shivering  as  if  an  ague  were 
upon  her.  She  sank  further  back  into 
her  chair,  keeping  her  eyes  still  on  his  face. 

"I  know — I  know,"  she  responded  in 
a  low  voice.  "But  tell  me,  do  moments 
never  come  to  you  when  you  feel  that  in 
some  degree  you  may  have  wronged  her 
— this  woman?  Do  you  never  think  of 
her?" 

"I  do  not  wish  to  think  of  her." 

"But  may  she  not  have  suffered,  too? 
May  she  not  have  gone  down  into  the 
very  depths  of  anguish  and  contrition? 
And  if  she  were  not  deliberately  wicked, 
only  impulsive  and  swept  along  by  an  ir 
resistible  force,  was  it  not  natural  that 
she  should  wish  to  atone,  that  she  should 
send  him  from  her,  especially  after — if 
246 


Florida  Alexander 

the  realization  had  come  that  their  love 
had  not  been  of  the  highest  and  best? 
Oh,  when  you  think  of  it,  the  pain  and 
the  sorrow  of  it  all — have  you  no  mercy 
in  your  heart  for  her?" 

He  rose  stiffly  and  stood  looking  down 
upon  her. 

"Why  need  we  make  her  a  topic  of 
conversation  between  us  at  this  of  all 
moments?"  he  inquired  sternly. 

"Because — because  I  wish  to  speak 
of  her;  I  often  think  of  her."  And  then 
she  added  huskily:  "I  knew — I  knew 
your  friend." 

He  turned  a  startled  face  upon  her. 

' '  You  —  knew  —  him  —  Ballinger ! "  he 
cried  in  dismay,  the  name  breaking  re 
luctantly  from  him.  "But  why —  'he 
caught  himself  up  with  an  effort.  His 
face  had  grown  terribly  white.  "Then 
possibly  you  know  this  woman  also  for 
whom  you  have  twice  plead  so  earnestly?" 

"Yes,"  she  faltered.  The  word  was  a 
sob. 

"And  knowing  her,  knowing  them 
247 


Florida  Alexander 

both,  may  I  ask  why  you  refrained  from 
mentioning  the  fact  of  your  acquaintance 
— why  you  have  never  told  me  of  this  be 
fore?" 

"I  could  not  tell  you  before." 

"Then  why  do  you  tell  me  now?" 

"I  must." 

Suddenly  she  covered  her  face  with  her 
hands. 

"I  thought — I  thought  I  could  spare 
you  this  suffering — I  thought  you  need 
never  know.  I  hoped  that  you  would  go 
away.  All  the  time — don't  you  remem 
ber? — I  was  trying  to  make  you  think  I 
did  not  care.  I  thought  I  had  forfeited 
the  right  to  be  happy.  Oh,  wont  you 
understand!"  she  broke  off  wildly. 
"Can't  you  see  that  the  woman  you  have 
condemned  and  the  woman  you  have 
loved  are  the  same  miserable  one?" 

He  was  still  staring  blankly  down  upon 
her.  His  face  was  rigid  and  pale  as 
death.  But  there  was  a  look  far  more 
appalling  than  the  look  of  death  upon  his 
features. 

248 


Florida  Alexander 

When,  after  a  long  time,  she  took  her 
hands  from  her  face,  an  involuntary 
groan  broke  from  her  lips  at  the  sight  of 
the  awful  devastation  she  had  wrought. 

One  moment  he  looked  into  her  eyes, 
and  then  turning,  he  blindly  groped  his 
way  in  silence  from  the  room. 


249 


XVII 

If  the  length  of  an  existence,  so  far  as 
its  significance  is  concerned,  should  be 
reckoned  by  a  reference  to  deeds,  not 
years,  it  is  equally  true  that  we  may  find 
an  explanation  of  character  development 
in  those  profound  and  terrible  emotions 
which  sometimes  sweep  over  the  soul, 
shaking  it  to  its  utmost  foundations, 
rather  than  in  the  slow  processes  of  evo 
lution  whereby  we  are  accustomed  to 
consider  its  growth.  And  it  is  not  pos 
sible  but  that  the  outcome  of  these  ex 
periences  should  be  more  or  less  ethical; 
that  there  should  inevitably  follow  a 
moral  advancement,  or  a  moral  retrogres 
sion,  of  a  stern  and  enduring  order. 

The  effect  upon  the  two  people  to 
whom  a  test  the  most  critical  and  decisive 
250 


Florida  Alexander 

had  just  been  offered  was  widely  dissim 
ilar;  to  the  one  it  had  meant  a  spiritual 
enlightenment,  to  the  other  it  had  meant 
a  spiritual  eclipse.  But  all  that  it  had 
meant  to  each  was  something  that  the 
other  would  never  know. 

When  stricken  dumb  by  the  confession 
to  which  he  had  listened,  St.  John  had 
staggered  forth  from  the  presence  of  the 
woman  whom  in  flawless  supremacy  his 
imagination  had  placed  upon  a  pedestal 
in  his  heart,  and  whom  he  had  worshiped 
with  all  the  ideal  but  self-conscious  fervor 
of  his  poetic  temperament,  it  was  with 
the  feeling  that  Truth,  like  a  fallen 
statue,  lay  broken  and  crumbling  at  his 
feet. 

Three  hours  later,  when  he  retraced 
his  steps,  the  marks  of  that  tragic  realiza 
tion  seemed  branded  upon  his  counte 
nance. 

He  found  her  sitting  precisely  where 

he  had  left  her — pale  and  motionless,  but 

with  an  awful  quietude  upon  her.      It  is 

only    the    grief    that    is    noiseless    which 

251 


Florida  Alexander 

leaves  desolation  in  its  track.  He  paused 
involuntarily  on  the  threshold,  and  en 
tered  the  room  and  softly  closed  the  door 
behind  him. 

"Florida,"  he  said,  in  a  low  voice, 
standing  before  her,  "I  have  come  back. 
Surely  you  knew  that  I  would  come 
back?" 

She  did  not  lift  her  eyes. 

"Yes,"  she  responded  dully,  at  length; 
"I  knew  that  you  would  come  back.  I 
have  been  waiting  for  you  here." 

But  he  did  not  understand  the  mean 
ing  of  the  spasm  of  pain  that  suddenly 
shot  across  her  features,  nor  the  flush  of 
utter  humiliation  that  dyed  her  cheek  and 
neck  and  brow.  That  consciousness  of 
a  power  within  herself  which,  at  certain 
moments  of  her  existence,  had  thrilled 
her  through  and  through,  had  become 
a  scourge  to  her  now. 

"I  have  come  to  say  what  you  would 
not  let  me  say  before;  I  have  come  to 
ask  you  to  be  my  wife,"  he  said  very 
quietly. 

252 


Florida  Alexander 

Her  lids  were  lowered.  Her  hands  lay 
folded  in  her  lap.  Her  whole  attitude 
expressed  only  an  unutterable  weariness 
and  apathy.  She  seemed  scarcely  to 
heed  or  even  to  hear  his  words.  He 
came  nearer  and  took  the  chair  at  her 
side. 

His  sensitive  face  twitched  nervously 
under  the  powerful  struggle  he  was  mak 
ing  for  self-control.  But  his  manner  was 
calm  and  very  deliberate.  There  was 
something  almost  hard  in  the  resoluteness 
of  his  looks. 

"Will  you  hear  me?"  he  asked 
gravely,  after  a  time.  "Will  you  try  to 
understand  what  I  feel  at  this  moment?" 

Her  eyes  were  resting  in  a  fixed,  ab 
stracted  gaze  upon  the  smoldering  embers 
on  the  hearth. 

"I  will  try,"  she  answered  simply. 

"Then  we  need  not  speak  of  what 
these  last  three  hours  have  been." 
There  was  a  dreamy  sadness,  a  far-off 
note  of  self-pity  in  his  voice. 

"No;  we  need  not  speak  of  that." 
253 


Florida  Alexander 

All  at  once  he  leaned  forward  and 
looked  earnestly  into  her  face. 

"And  you  will  believe  that  it  is  not 
merely  a  sense  of  honor  that  has  brought 
me  back  to  you?"  he  demanded  anx 
iously.  "In  spite  of  this  memory,  which 
we  both  must  bear  always,  to  the  very 
end  of  our  days,  do  not  doubt,  never 
doubt,  that  I  have  any  deeper  desire  than 
that  you  should  become  my  wife." 

"I  know,"  she  replied,  in  the  same 
lifeless,  wearied  tones;  "I  know;  I  have 
not  doubted  that."  And  again  the  slow, 
burning  crimson  mounted  to  her  brow. 

He  glanced  at  her  uneasily.  His 
teeth  were  clinched. 

"We  will  help  each  other  to  forget," 
he  said  quickly. 

"No  one  ever  forgets.  The  very  effort 
to  root  out  a  memory  only  fixes  it  the 
more  securely  in  the  breast." 

He   could   not   answer,  and  his  silence 

only  too  surely  confirmed  his  acquiescence. 

An  ominous  cloud  was  settling  upon  his 

dark  face.      He  was  breathing  hurriedly, 

254 


Florida  Alexander 

and  a  heavy  moisture  had  gathered  on  his 
brow. 

"Death  was  not  strong  enough  to  sep 
arate  us,  nothing  can  come  between  us 
now,"  he  exclaimed  fiercely. 

A  sharp,  quivering  note  of  apprehen 
sion  resounded  through  the  room. 

"There  is  one  thing  that  should 
separate  us  always."  Then  in  a  voice, 
firm  but  almost  inaudible:  "It  is  con 
science,"  she  said. 

And  it  seemed  in  that  moment  that  she 
had  climbed  to  some  great  height  and 
was  looking  down  upon  him  in  the 
marshes  below. 

He  started  guiltily,  and  as  if  he  had 
been  struck.  Speechless,  he  sat  staring 
at  her,  with  that  strange,  uncomfort 
able  feeling  one  experiences  when  he 
knows  his  inmost  thoughts  have  been 
read — the  thoughts  which,  of  all  others, 
he  would  guard  and  cover  if  he  could. 

Presently  she  rose  and  walked  over  to 
the  old-fashioned  chimney-piece.  She 
stood  with  her  back  toward  him  for  sev- 
255 


Florida  Alexander 

eral  moments.  She  turned  suddenly,  and 
leaned  one  arm  upon  the  mantel,  facing 
him.  She  was  very  pale,  but  quiet — 
quiet  with  that  calm  which  always  strikes 
terror  in  the  heart  of  the  beholder  and 
freezes  the  blood  in  his  veins. 

"Can  you  not  see,"  she  said  finally, 
in  low,  distinct  tones,  "that  holding  the 
views  you  do,  the  very  fact  of  your  wil 
lingness  to  turn  away  from  the  standard 
you  have  set  up  implies  a  downward  step? 
Can  you  not  see  that  marriage  between 
us  now  would  be  no  marriage  at  all,  that 
it  would  be  hideous — an  unholy  thing?" 

His  face  had  grown  ghastly. 

"No,"  he  repied  sternly;  "not  if  I 
wish  it — not  if  we  both  wish  it,"  he  cor 
rected. 

She  was  silent  a  long  time. 

"But  I  do  not  wish  it,"  she  said 
slowly,  at  length. 

A  low,  savage  cry  broke  from  his  lips. 
There  was  the  flame  of  thwarted  passion 
in  his  eyes.      He  made  a  swift  movement 
toward  her,  but  she  waved  him  back. 
256 


Florida  Alexander 

"Whether  it  be  right  to  love  you  or 
wrong  to  love  you,  is  nothing  to  me  now. 
I  love  you,"  he  declared  recklessly  and 
vehemently. 

Her  wide  eyes  were  fixed  upon  his  face. 

"Oh!  do  you  think  it  would  be  pos 
sible  for  me  to  live  with  you  as  your  wife 
— as  your  wife,"  she  repeated,  in  bitter 
humiliation,  "knowing  that  you  did  not 
respect  me  in  your  heart?" 

He  stood  silent  before  her,  unable  to 
speak  or  to  move. 

"Do  you  think,"  she  continued,  with 
sorrowful  solemnity,  "that  the  time 
would  not  come,  after  the  infatuation 
you  now  feel  had  died  the  usual  death, 
when  you  would  realize  the  blunder  you 
had  made,  and  despise  me  for  allowing 
you  to  make  it?  But  it  would  surely 
come;  and  I  —  how  could  I  meet  that 
time?  And  yet,"  she  suddenly  broke 
off,  her  rich  voice  rising  and  vibrating, 
thrilling  him  with  the  old  magical  sweet 
ness,  "as  I  stand  before  you  to-day, 
broken-hearted  and  desolate  though  I 
257 


Florida  Alexander 

am,  trusting  no  longer  in  my  own 
strength,  feeling  even  in  the  anguish  of 
this  moment  a  deeper  reverence  than  ever 
before  for  all  good  and  sacred  things,  I 
know  —  I  know  —  that  repentance  has 
made  me  a  better  woman  than  the  untried 
being  you  have  dreamed  of,  than  the 
woman  you  have  thought  me  to  be." 

There  was  the  ring  of  triumph  in  the 
words,  the  look  of  a  divine  victory  on  her 
face.  And  as  she  spoke,  the  distance 
that  had  been  steadily  widening  between 
them  seemed  all  at  once  to  become  a 
great  yawning  gulf  which  neither  could 
ever  cross. 

"Will  you  listen  to  me  for  one  mo 
ment?"  he  demanded,  curbing  the  low 
ground  swell  of  anger  within  him  by  a 
mighty  effort. 

She  bowed  her  head. 

"When  I  returned  to  my  home  this 
morning  I  found  a  telegram  awaiting  me. 
It  stated  that  the  nearest  relative  I  have 
in  the  world,  and  one  to  whom  I  owe 
more  than  to  any  other  being,  lay  ill  and 
258 


Florida  Alexander 

probably  dying.  I  shall  leave  on  the  first 
train.  Whether  I  ever  return  to  this 
place  will  depend  upon  the  answer  you 
now  give  me.  If  you  send  me  away  from 
you  now,  it  will  be  forever;  you  should 
understand  this.  Once  more  I  ask  you 
to  be  my  wife." 

A  look  of  dumb  surprise  traced  itself 
upon  her  features. 

He  crossed  the  room  quickly,  and 
caught  both  of  her  trembling  hands  in 
his,  almost  crushing  them  in  his  grasp. 

But  they  were  cold.  And  in  that  in 
stant  something  told  him  intuitively  that 
no  fire  in  his  would  warm  them  ever 
again.  His  face  grew  white  as  marble. 

"It  was  not  love,  it  could  never  have 
been  love,"  he  said,  with  bitter,  merci 
less  conviction. 

Her  ice-cold  hands  fell  limply  from  his. 
He  turned  abruptly  away. 

A  moment   afterward    she    heard    the 
sound    of   his   footsteps   echoing  drearily 
down  the  long  hall,  and  knew  that  he  had 
gone  forever  out  of  her  life. 
259 


XVIII 

It  was  five  o'clock  of  the  same  after 
noon. 

The  great  baritone  bell  in  a  neighbor 
ing  steeple  had  just  sounded  the  hour — 
sounded  it  with  a  serene  and  majestic  in 
difference  to  the  passing  of  day — and  an 
instant  afterward  the  fragile  little  time 
piece  on  the  mantel  had  chimed  in  deli 
cate  accord.  The  echo  lingered  sadly  in 
the  room,  then  died  away  with  sweet, 
haunting  reluctance.  But  Florida  heard 
neither  the  bell  in  the  steeple  nor  the 
clock  on  the  mantel. 

There  were  hurrying  vehicles  in  the 
streets,  the  horses'  hoofs  reverberating 
noisily  upon  the  brick  pavements.  Peo 
ple  were  turning  their  faces  homeward. 
Children  had  ceased  their  play,  and  were 
calling  farewell  to  one  another  across  the 
260 


Florida  Alexander 

grassy  lawns.  Servants  were  moving 
through  the  house.  The  preparation  for 
dinner  was  about  to  begin,  and  occasion 
ally  there  was  a  snatch  from  some  weird 
negro  melody  or  the  quaint  jargon  of  an 
authoritative  command.  The  room  was 
filled  with  lurking  shadows;  the  fire  on 
the  wide  hearth  had  burned  low,  the  air 
was  damp  and  chill.  But  the  bowed, 
motionless  figure  in  the  low  chair  ap 
peared  to  have  lost  all  power  to  hear  or 
see  or  feel. 

Presently,  like  one  wakened  rudely  out 
of  sleep,  she  started,  half  rose  from  her 
seat,  and  looked  about  her  with  bewil 
dered  eyes. 

From  far  down  in  the  town,  drawing 
ever  nearer  and  nearer,  came  the  shrill 
voices  of  the  newsboys  calling  the  even 
ing  papers.  Instantly  she  was  roused. 
Tim!  What  could  have  become  of  the 
child?  Never  before  had  he  failed  to  put 
in  an  appearance  at  the  appointed  time. 
A  sudden  sickening  foreboding  began  to 
tug  at  her  heart.  The  boy  had  been  look- 
261 


Florida  Alexander 

ing  pale  and  thin  in  spite  of  all  her  watch 
ful  care;  and  recently  she  had  been 
conscious  of  a  growing  anxiety  lest  he 
might  have  become  a  trifle  too  serious 
through  those  long,  beautiful  talks  of 
theirs. 

She  glanced  uneasily  toward  the  clock. 
She  felt  faint  and  ill.  Since  morning  she 
had  not  tasted  food,  but  she  managed  to 
drag  herself  wearily  to  her  room  and  to 
get  hurriedly  into  an  outdoor  costume. 
In  less  than  five  minutes  she  was  on  the 
street. 

The  cries  of  the  newsboys  were  coming 
nearer.  But  she  listened  in  vain  for  that 
rare,  pathetic  note  which  was  the  peculiar 
charm  of  Tim's  voice — that  sweet,  re 
mote,  indescribable  timbre  which  one  so 
seldom  hears  in  the  voices  of  the  children 
of  our  land. 

Suddenly  she  paused.  An  ungainly 
boy  of  thirteen  or  fourteen,  as  unlike  her 
own  "bonnie  laddie"  as  could  be,  brushed 
roughly  past. 

"Here  yo'  evenin'  papers,"  he  shouted 
262 


Florida  Alexander 

loudly.  "All  about  the  accidint !  Leader! 
Argonaut!  All  about  Tim  Twine  killed 
by  the  'lectric  cars.  All  about  the  acci 
dint!" 

Florida  turned  a  white,  terrified  face 
upon  the  boy,  reeled  a  little,  and  put 
forth  a  detaining  hand.  "Give  me  one 
of  the  papers,  please,"  she  gasped.  Her 
teeth  were  chattering.  The  boy  regarded 
her  with  brutal  unconcern  as  he  dived 
down  in  his  pocket  for  the  change  which 
she  seemed  not  to  see  when  he  handed 
it  to  her,  and  which  was  straightway  re 
turned  to  the  place  from  whence  it  came. 

She  took  the  paper  and  tried  to  read. 
But  her  hands  shook  so  at  first  she  could 
see  only  the  headlines: 

Horrible  accident  at  the  junction  of  Broadway 
and  High  streets!  Little  Timothy  Twine,  a  news 
boy,  killed  by  an  electric  car  while  heroically 
rescuing  a  three-year-old  Italian  child  who  had 
wandered  upon  the  track. 

Her  eyes  ran  with  frantic  but  careful 

eagerness  down  the  column,  an  irrational 

clinging    to    hope    causing    her   to    scan 

closely  every  sentence;  she  was  still  too 

263 


Florida  Alexander 

stunned  to  grasp  fully  the  pitiful  truth  as 
truth.  But  presently  her  glance  fell  upon 
these  words,  and  her  face  blanched  to  the 
lips: 

As  the  electric  car  reached  the  brow  of  the  hill 
and  started  down  the  steep  incline,  the  motorman 
noticed  a  small  child  running  in  the  street  between 
the  car-tracks  and  directly  toward  the  front  of  the 
car.  He  saw  at  a  glance  that  unless  the  child 
could  be  stopped  death  was  inevitable.  He  called 
to  her  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  and  applied  the 
brakes  with  all  his  strength.  But  the  little  girl, 
hearing  the  cry,  stopped  between  the  tracks  and 
crouched  down  to  the  bricks,  helpless  with  fright. 
At  this  moment,  little  Timothy  Twine,  a  newsboy 
known  to  many  of  our  citizens  as  a  sprightly  lad 
and  as  the  possessor  of  a  marvelous  voice,  turned 
the  corner  of  Broadway.  Laying  aside  his  bundle 
of  papers,  in  a  flash  the  boy  was  in  the  street.  In 
another  instant  he  was  on  the  car-track  and  had 
caught  the  terrified  child  in  his  arms.  But  just  as 
the  car  bore  relentlessly  down  upon  them,  the  little 
fellow's  foot  slipped  on  the  icy  pavement,  and  he 
fell.  With  one  last  supreme  effort,  he  managed  to 
shove  the  little  girl  forward  beyond  the  track,  and 
thus  to  save  her  life.  The  motorman  leaned  over 
the  front  of  the  car  in  a  desperate  effort  to  catch 
the  boy.  He  touched  but  could  not  grasp  him. 
The  grinding  wheels  went  over  the  body  of  the 
noble  child,  crushing  him  to  death. 

264 


Florida  Alexander 

It  was  almost  night  when  Florida  en 
tered  the  dreary  side  street  not  far  from 
her  home.  The  forlorn  abode,  which  had 
been  Tim's  only  habitation  since  his  baby 
eyes  had  opened  upon  the  world,  seemed 
to  have  taken  on  new  dignity  in  conse 
quence  of  the  flimsy  piece  of  white  crape 
which  now  floated  from  the  doorknob. 
While  yet  a  long  way  off,  Florida  could 
discern  this  waving  signal  of  death,  and 
it  served  as  a  guide  to  her  in  the  gather 
ing  darkness.  At  the  first  sight  of  it  she 
caught  in  her  breath  with  a  tearless  sob, 
then  hurried  on. 

Now  and  then,  as  the  slender  figure 
made  its  way  past  a  grocery-store  or 
beer  saloon  or  miserable  dwelling,  a  curi 
ous,  comprehending  glance  was  thrown 
upon  her.  Her  face  was  startling  in  its 
pallor,  but  her  eyes  were  dry. 

There  was  a  crowd  about  the  door, 
but  when  she  approached,  all  drew 
back  respectfully.  She  climbed  with 
a  tread  that  was  almost  firm  up  the 
low,  rickety  flight  of  wooden  steps,  and 
265 


Florida  Alexander 

knocked  softly.  The  door  was  opened 
at  once. 

Florida  moved  gropingly  into  the 
dimly-lighted  room.  Three  women  were 
shivering  around  the  fireless  grate,  talk 
ing  in  subdued  tones,  and  something 
white  and  still  lay  on  the  bed  in  the  cor 
ner.  Even  in  that  moment  she  felt  a 
throb  of  thankfulness  that  the  beautiful 
little  face  had  not  been  marred. 

The  woman  who  opened  the  door  to 
her,  apparently  the  youngest  of  the  four 
watchers,  stood  studying  her  intently, 
with  eyes  that  rested  in  a  covetous  scru 
tiny  upon  the  girl's  rich  furs  and  well- 
fitting  garments. 

"Will  you  leave  me  with  him  alone 
for  a  little  while?"  said  Florida  in  a  low 
voice.  She  addressed  herself  to  the 
woman  who  had  opened  the  door,  but  in 
cluded  the  others  in  her  glance.  At  her 
request,  the  three  lugubrious  women  sit 
ting  with  their  backs  toward  her  rose  and 
filed  slowly  out  of  the  room,  but  the 


266 


Florida  Alexander 

fourth  remained  an  instant  with  her  hand 
on  the  knob. 

"I  will  not  stay  long,"  the  girl  added 
imploringly,  seeing  that  the  woman  did 
not  go.  "I — some  one  may  have  told 
you — I  was  his  friend." 

"Lord,  miss,"  replied  the  woman, 
with  chattering  volubility,  "we  all  knows 
how  kind  you've  been,  an'  what  a  little 
man  you  made  o'  Tim.  Why,  'tain't 
no  more'n  three  days  sence  he  was  settin' 
on  my  doo'-steps,  an'  preachin'  a  reg'lar 
sermon  to  them  boys  o'  mine — him  that 
useter  be  the  terror  of  the  whole  street 
hisself.  The  big  one  had  been  fightin' 
the  little  one,  an'  Tim  he  jest  laid  down 
the  law  'bout  doin'  to  t'other  as  you'd 
have  t'other  do  to  you,  an'  all  the  time 
he  was  jest  as  frolicksome  as  a  young 
colt,  though  them  big  eyes  did  grow 
mighty  soft  and  shiny  when  he  talked 
'bout  the  things  you  tole  him.  I  declare, 
I  didn't  know  whether  to  laugh  or  to  cry. 
I  jest  said  to  myself,  '  If  Tim  ain't  a 

miricle  o'  grace' 

267 


Florida  Alexander 

All  at  once  she  stopped.  Something 
in  the  tragic  face  of  the  girl  as  it  bent 
above  the  dead  child  awed  and  amazed 
her.  The  woman's  ready  flow  of  con 
versation  had  ceased.  Her  eyes  grew 
full  of  wonder  and  incredulity.  "Well, 
I  declare!"  she  muttered  to  herself  as  she 
softly  closed  the  door  and  disappeared 
into  the  room  beyond. 

Florida  stood  looking  down  upon  the 
little  white  face  that  would  never  again 
be  lifted  to  hers  in  the  old  trustful,  ador 
ing  fashion — that  would  never  again  grow 
warm  and  grateful  for  her  smiles,  nor 
roguish  at  her  jests;  and  as  she  stood 
thus,  gradually  a  strange  idea  began  to 
steal  into  her  benumbed  and  harassed 
brain :  that  she  was  gazing  not  upon  the 
lifeless  body  of  the  child  she  had  loved 
and  befriended,  but  upon  all  the  dead 
hopes  of  her  own  existence,  which  must 
now  be  buried  forever  out  of  her  sight. 

The  kerosene  lamp  on  the  table  threw 
mournful  shadows  about  the  bare,  white 
washed  walls  of  the  comfortless  room,  and 
268 


Florida  Alexander 

brought  into  bold  relief  the  two  almost 
equally  quiet  figures,  which  appeared  to 
take  on  the  emphasis  of  an  emblematic 
significance.  A  hardness  had  traced 
itself  upon  the  features  of  the  girl,  whose 
eyes  were  fixed  stonily  upon  the  prostrate 
form  before  her.  Something  seemed  to 
have  dried  up  all  the  fountains  of  emotion 
within  her.  She  could  not  weep;  she 
could  no  longer  feel. 

Presently  she  drew  nearer  to  the  dead 
child,  and  then  for  the  first  time  a  com 
plete  realization  was  borne  in  upon  her  of 
the  manner  of  his  death,  of  the  beauty  and 
the  heroism  of  the  sacrifice  he  had  made. 

A  long,  quivering  sigh  rose  as  from  the 
very  depths  of  her  being.  She  sank 
upon  her  knees;  her  frozen  lips  moved, 
trembled — and  tears,  the  first  that  she 
had  shed  in  all  that  agonizing  day,  gushed 
into  her  eyes. 


Three    hours  later  the   Major,  dozing 
over  "The  Heart  of  Mid-Lothian"  before 
269 


Florida  Alexander 

his  library  fire,  looked  up  startled  from 
his  book  at  the  expression  he  saw  upon 
his  daughter's  face.  The  girl  had  come 
in  very  quietly,  forgetting  to  knock,  and 
she  had  been  standing  near  him  for  sev 
eral  seconds  before  he  became  conscious 
of  her  presence.  He  checked  an  involun 
tary  exclamation  of  dismay  when  their 
eyes  met.  But,  though  the  signs  of 
some  recent  mental  conflict  were  traced 
upon  her  features,  her  manner  was  now 
so  calm  and  decided,  so  tenderly  implor 
ing,  that  the  Major  was  both  alarmed  and 
touched.  She  remained  standing  a  mo 
ment,  looking  silently  down  upon  him 
with  a  yearning  devotion  and  pity  in  her 
eyes.  Then  she  sat  down  beside  the  fire 
in  the  small  chair  in  which  she  used  often 
to  sit  when  a  child,  and  her  gaze  wan 
dered  away  to  the  quaint  mantel,  and 
rested  thoughtfully  upon  the  blazing  logs 
on  the  hearth,  as  if  the  words  with  which 
she  would  tell  him  were  forming  them 
selves  slowly  and  with  difficulty  in  her 
mind. 

270 


Florida  Alexander 

He  could  never  afterward  recall  what 
were  the  arguments  she  had  used,  if  in 
deed  there  had  been  any  arguments  at 
all,  whereby  she  had  won  from  him  a  re 
luctant  consent;  for  the  strength  of  her 
appeal  was  in  its  profound  spiritual  sin 
cerity.  She  spoke  briefly  of  the  call  that 
had  sounded  for  her  several  years  before, 
and  which  had  never  been  wholly  silenced, 
to  a  life  among  the  poor  and  the  helpless 
and  the  unenlightened  of  the  earth;  of 
the  strong  wave  of  Christian  Socialism  un 
der  the  influence  of  which  she  had  to 
some  extent  come;  of  the  plan  and  pur 
pose  of  the  College  Settlements  in  the 
great  cities;  and  lastly,  of  a  recent  let 
ter  from  a  friend  she  had  met  at  college 
who  was  permanently  connected  with  one 
of  these  settlements — a  young  woman  of 
whom  she  had  made  mention  to  him 
before,  and  to  whom,  with  a  passionate 
pleading,  she  now  besought  that  she  be 
allowed  to  go.  And  in  the  end  she  had 
her  way. 

Only  once  did  her  voice  falter,  and 
271 


Florida  Alexander 

that  was  when  she  touched  upon  their 
parting,  the  pain  she  must  inflict  upon 
him  while  she  went  forth  in  obedience  to 
that  summons  which  again  had  seemed  to 
come  to  her  with  the  authority  of  a  divine 
command. 

But  when  she  spoke  of  the  desire  that 
her  mission  of  love  and  duty  should  lead 
her  more  especially  into  work  among 
children,  tears  gathered  in  her  father's 
eyes. 

He  rose  and  laid  his  hand  with  a  be 
seeching  tenderness  upon  her  head  as  he 
bent  over  her.  "I  had  hoped,"  he  said 
brokenly,  "I  had  hoped  that  I  might 
live  to  see  your  own  children  in  your 
arms,  my  child." 

A  flush  mounted  hotly  to  her  brow, 
and  then  left  her  pale  and  passionless,  and 
beautiful  as  marble.  But  the  memory  of 
the  look  he  had  called  into  her  eyes  was 
something  that  he  would  bear  with  him 
to  the  grave. 


272 


Florida  Alexander 

It  was  a  cool,  sunshiny  afternoon  in 
the  late  autumn,  with  just  an  invigorat 
ing  hint  of  winter  in  the  air.  The  day  of 
her  departure!  All  the  morning  she  had 
been  busily  occupied ;  but  now  her  trunks 
were  packed,  the  carriage  was  at  the 
door,  and  her  father  was  waiting  to  go 
with  her  to  the  station.  She  could  hear 
him  moving  restlessly  about  the  room 
below,  and,  as  was  his  wont  when  sad  or 
lonely,  singing  softly  to  himself — singing 
one  of  Dr.  Watts'  hymns.  She  sat  down 
helplessly  on  the  side  of  the  couch,  and 
threw  a  hesitating  glance  about  the  little 
bed-chamber  in  which  she  had  suf 
fered  such  unspeakable  things.  She  had 
fully  twenty  minutes  yet ;  even  now  she 
could  alter  her  decision — it  was  not  too 
late. 

How  still  the  old  house  was!  Her 
stepmother  had  bidden  her  a  somewhat 
impatient  adieu,  and  had  hurried  off, 
with  characteristic  unconcern,  to  a  recep 
tion.  The  children  also  were  away.  She 
had  bestowed  her  gifts  upon  the  servants, 
273 


Florida  Alexander 

and  made  a  little  farewell  speech  to  each. 
She  had  absolutely  nothing  left  to  do. 
The  moments  were  flying.  The  voice  in 
the  room  below  had  ceased. 

Suddenly  two  great  tears  welled  into 
her  eyes  and  fell  with  a  moist  splash  upon 
her  clasped  hands. 

Everything  grew  dark  and  uncertain 
before  her;  an  awful  blindness  seemed 
closing  in  upon  her;  she  stretched  forth 
her  hands  with  a  feeble,  frightened  cry 
— like  the  bleat  of  a  timid  lamb  on  a 
lonely  mountain  side. 

Then,  all  at  once,  the  great  sun  burst 
from  behind  a  cloud ;  she  felt  the  strength 
of  a  mighty  Arm  about  her,  and  in  her 
ears  a  Voice  was  whispering  words  of 
peace. 


When  she  entered  the  library  she 
found  him  asleep  in  his  chair.  His  Bible 
lay  open  on  the  table  at  his  side,  and  she 
knew  that,  as  always  in  the  midst  of 
every  strife,  he  had  been  seeking  the  safe 
274 


Florida  Alexander 

stronghold  of  his  faith,  and  that  the  smile 
still  resting  upon  his  features  was  a  bene 
diction  for  her. 

And  seeing  him  thus  serene  and  rest 
ful,  the  afternoon  sun  shedding  a  soft  ra 
diance  in  the  room  and  making  a  glory 
about  the  beloved  head,  she  felt  that  she 
could  not  rouse  him  to  that  awakening  of 
pain.  She  stood  thoughtful  for  a  mo 
ment,  trying  to  decide  upon  some  means 
whereby  she  might  leave  a  message,  so 
that  he  should  know  that  she  had  gone 
forth,  not  in  a  miserable,  cowardly  fashion, 
but  bravely  and  cheerfully,  to  her  great 
life-work — that  it  was  to  be  with  her  truly 
the  victory  of  vanquishment,  and  that 
there  had  been  given  her  "the  garment 
of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness." 

A  happy  thought  came  to  her.  She 
moved  behind  his  chair  and  softly  turned 
the  pages  of  the  Book.  Then  she  drew 
a  line  delicately  in  pencil  beneath  the 
passage  she  wished  him  to  read,  and 
placed  a  flower  upon  it.  And  these  are 
the  words  which  caught  his  eyes  as  he 
275 


Florida  Alexander 

woke  nearly  an  hour  later  in  the  sunlit 
room: 

Thou  hast  turned  for  me  my  mourning  into 
dancing;  thou  hast  put  off  my  sackcloth  and 
girded  me  with  gladness;  to  the  end  that  my  glory 
may  sing  praise  to  thee  and  not  be  silent. 


THE    END 


876 


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